LAURA Ashley has enquired about a site on a Blandford trading estate, the Daily Echo has learned.

The fashion and furnishings giant is among a number of companies to have expressed an interest in a piece of land near Shaftesbury Lane, say the site’s agents.

But representatives of Blandford demolition firm Buckfields, the site’s owner, say development is limited by its designation for industrial use.

Blandford councillor Steve Hitchings said bringing a firm like Laura Ashley to the town would be a “considerable coup”.

“There is nothing left in the centre of town that could be developed into that type of store. The principle has already been agreed to build on the site at Shaftesbury Lane,” said Cllr Hitchings.

Blandford Town Council backed the plans in November, but planning officers at North Dorset District Council are recommending that their planning committee refuse the application.

Agents say they have a number of retail applicants for the site, encouraged by the proximity of other stores, including World of Furniture and Mark Rollins Carpets.

If the site’s designation is changed, planning permission granted in 2006 for a giant unit could be activated, and “bulky or specialist goods” could be sold. A search for alternative properties in and around Blandford has drawn a blank, say agents.

The only suitably sized building in the town centre is occupied by Morrisons, agents say, with an edge of town property, formerly occupied by RMTV, too small for their needs.

But council planners say too few premises have been considered, with the former Wilts & Dorset bus depot in Salisbury Road, Woolworths in Salisbury Street, and the abandoned library site in West Street, among the properties overlooked.

Councillors on the district’s planning committee will consider an application to change the use of the Shaftesbury Lane site on Tuesday.