AN INDEPENDENT veterinary practice based in Grange-over-Sands is looking to expand its business by developing an old car show room in Lindale.

Archway Veterinary Practice has been operating out of its existing premises on Station Square since 1969.

It is a long established mixed practice, treating most species of animals over a wide area of south Cumbria and north Lancashire.

The vet’s equine work is fully mobile and currently its farm work is carried out at a nearby farm, separate from its small animal work.

A design and access statement submitted to the Lake District National Park Authority (LDNPA) by veterinary architecture firm ACD Projects, states that the existing practice has served the owners well but they are now ‘outgrowing the building’.

“They have been searching for a new site for over three years and other sites they have viewed have proved to be inappropriate,” it said. “This is either due to location, cost, or environmental issues such as fields being prone to flooding. This old car showroom however offers the perfect space.”

The proposed site for the new practice is the former BMW garage, situated on Lindale Hill.

The development would be used for veterinary purposes to provide an ‘exceptional level of care’ for animals.

Archway Vets employs six full-time vets, four part-time nurses, one part-time trainee nurse and three part-time administrators.

The practice has ambitions of taking on the trainee nurse full time, recruiting two physios and a further receptionist as part of its development.

This will likely be in two-three years’ time and the practice wants to employ local people.

“The proposed site is large enough to house their existing facilities, bringing their small-scale farm animal work and small animal work all under one roof,” the design and access statement states. “This is a positive step for the team, who often feel disconnected due to being spread over two locations.

“This opportunity to purchase the old car showroom therefore provides an ideal solution allowing the practice to expand to continue to meet the needs of their clients and staff.”