AN INDUSTRIAL laundry firm is set to leave Moordown in favour of a new ‘state-of-the-art’ centre in Southampton.

Ellis, formerly known as Berendsen, has submitted plans to demolish its Castle Road premises and replace it with a mix of flats and houses, in anticipation of the move in March.

The firm has been marketing the site for more than a year but says that the only interest has come from residential developers.

Having recently completed work on its new Southampton facility, Ellis has begun closing its ‘inefficient’ regional bases.

And now an outline planning application has been submitted to Bournemouth council seeking permission to demolish its buildings in Moordown and to replace them with 18 flats and 27 houses.

In a statement, planning consultant, Ken Parke, said: “The business is rationalising all of its various regional operations into one new complex which will benefit from economies of scale and address many of the issues with their current historic plants, many of which are not well located.

“The existing site and configuration of buildings are not efficient and the existing operation is severely restricted, the knock-on effects of which generally cause environmental and other problems to the surrounding residential area and to traffic.”

Despite marketing it for commercial uses for more than a year, Ellis says that the only interest has come from residential developers.

Submitted by Aspire Property Holdings, the outline planning application provides for 18 one and two-bedroom flats as well as 27 two, three and four-bedroom houses.

Despite the number of residential units, only 43 parking spaces are included in the plans.

“The existing industrial complex causes significant environmental issues due to the location within a residential area and due to the site not being suitable for industrial use,” the report adds.

The application will be considered by Bournemouth council in the coming weeks.