A MULTINATIONAL coffee shop firm has received permission to open a branch in a historic market square featuring numerous cafes, despite widespread local opposition.

Members of Hambleton District Council’s planning committee said Costa Coffee’s application to change the use of the former HSBC premises in Easingwold’s Georgian Market Place should be granted because it would bring back into use a prominent building in the conservation area.

Costa has said it will invest £400,000 in upgrading the premises vacated by the bank last June, with HSBC stating 40 per cent fewer customers had visited the branch in the previous five years.

The coffeehouse firm has said the shop will employ four managers and at least 14 other full-time and part-time staff, all of whom will be hired locally.

The planning application generated 122 objections and seven in support, many of whom stated the chain would affect local businesses or change the town’s rural nature.

One objector, Easingwold resident Hilary Fairwood, said Costa Coffee would be “not at all in keeping with the rest of the town”. She added: “Easingwold is a small Georgian market town with many independent businesses which cater very well for the needs of the local community.”

Those supporting the application said the competition other shops would face from Costa Coffee through “more suitable opening times and a certified quality” could be positive for the town.

A Costa spokesman said the outlet would “bring back into use the ever-increasing redundant bank building which generally are often interesting buildings in their own right”.

Easingwold councillor Chris Rooke told the meeting he had been inundated with emails objecting to the scheme and calls from cafe owners anxious about the competition, but he was concerned about redundant business premises in the town.

He said: “We have seven cafes and coffee shops operating in Easingwold very successfully and this is one of the reasons why Costa want to come here.”

Councillor Bridget Fortune added she believed the multinational chain would offer something different to the town. She said: “The cafes in Easingwold are the sort of places you go to sit down, have a sandwich or a cream cake. Costa Coffee in the main is where you will nip in and have a quick coffee.”