A Wells petrol station is seeking permission to stay open until midnight every day.

Motor Fuel Group has submitted plans to extend the operating hours at Wells Esso on Bath Road from the current limits to 6 am until midnight seven days a week.

The planning statement says the filling station is currently allowed to operate from 6 am to 10 pm Monday to Saturday and from 7 am to 10 pm on Sundays.

Under the new proposal, the extra evening hours would be limited to customers buying fuel.

The applicant says there would be no deliveries, servicing, refuse collections or other ancillary activity during the extended period, while the existing forecourt and access arrangements would remain unchanged.

Motor Fuel Group argues the later opening would provide better access to fuel for emergency vehicles, shift workers, delivery drivers and motorists travelling outside standard hours.

The company has also sought to address the potential impact on people living nearby.

Its planning statement says staff would remain on site and CCTV and management procedures would be used to discourage unnecessary noise, prolonged engine idling and loud behaviour.

It adds that no new plant or noise-generating equipment is proposed and says existing lighting would continue to be used, with no additional external lighting required.

The applicant says: "The extended operation is therefore not expected to result in a significant or unacceptable increase in noise."

It also argues that traffic during the additional hours would be at a low level and spread across the evening, with no material impact on highway capacity or safety.

The latest bid follows an earlier application involving the station's opening hours which was refused by councillors on 13 August 2026, despite planning officers having recommended approval.

The new planning statement says there were no known or reported material concerns during an earlier 12-month trial of extended operating hours.

However, the planning history section of the applicant's statement contains conflicting wording about application 2026/0014/VRC, referring to it both as having been refused and as having received planning permission. The current application will therefore need to be considered on its own submitted documents and the council's formal planning record.

Motor Fuel Group says it would accept a planning condition requiring a lighting scheme to be approved before the later hours could begin.

The application seeks permission for the Wells Esso forecourt to operate from 6 am until midnight every day.

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