A HAMPSHIRE motor business is bulldozing its petrol station to make way for a used car lot.

Picador at Chandler's Ford has embarked on a multi-million redevelopment of its site on the corner of Bournemouth Road and Leigh Road.

The Vauxhall dealership which has been on the site since 1999 say they need more space

The Esso filling station which occupied a large part of the site, between the service centre and the new car showroom , is to be cleared to create space for 100 used cars.

The revamp will also include addition of two further bays to the workshop, additional office space, more customer parking and also increasing the capacity of the new car showroom to seven cars.

Work is underway and is expected to be completed before the end of March 2019.

Paul Wilde, Picador's marketing manager told the Echo. "With supermarkets driving prices down it's no longer viable to run the petrol station."

He could not confirm whether the used car forecourt would create more jobs but the loss of the Esso station will see the loss of two full-time staff and a number of part-time jobs.

Commenting on the plans, Picador Plc Managing Director, Sir Robert Oakeley said, “We are very excited – as a business we are always striving to deliver excellence and enhancing our site will give our Chandlers Ford customers the very best at Picador and Vauxhall. I would like to emphasise that during the redevelopment, it’s very much business as usual for both sales and aftersales customers. Every effort will be made to make the experience as seamless as possible.”