Elmswell Services, off the A14 between Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket, remains open a fortnight on from immediate closure order issued by Mid Suffolk District Council

A service station off the A14 at Elmswell, near Bury St Edmunds, remains open a fortnight after being told to shut by Mid Suffolk District Council.

On January 16 the authority ordered the immediate closure of the service station, owned by EG On the Move, for failing to implement important road safety measures which were a condition of its planning approval.

Notices have been pinned up at the services in Kiln Lane, stating that all businesses on the site – including a petrol station, Spar, Greggs and Starbucks – must shut.

By remaining open, EG on the Move has contravened the council’s breach of condition notice, which gave the company three months to resolve the issues.

Last week a spokesperson for Mid Suffolk District Council said it was considering a number of further legal options that could force an immediate closure.

The spokesperson said the businesses continuing to operate on the site were ‘putting profit ahead of safety’.

The authority’s planning committee previously refused the proposals for the site, saying the design and layout – in particular the exit – would have a ‘severe and detrimental impact on highway safety’.

Mid Suffolk District Council had raised concerns about the potential for accidents between vehicles exiting on to the A1088 and those using the existing A14 slip roads.

The decision was overturned on appeal by the planning inspectorate, subject to several conditions relating to works on the access and exit points, to address the concerns.

These had to be met before the site opened, last month, but were not.

If the notice is not complied with within three months, the council can prosecute the site owners.

The authority also served an enforcement notice because there was not an approved construction management plan and construction surface water management plan in place before work started.

The planning inspectorate said this was ‘so fundamental to the development that it would have been otherwise necessary to refuse permission’.

Last week, Elmswell and Woolpit Parish Councils questioned why an ‘extremely hazardous’ new service station was still open.

A spokesperson for EG On the Move said it continues to take legal advice and liaise with the local authority to resolve the planning matter raised.

Mid Suffolk District Council said it had no update on the situation involving the service station.