A York taxi company wishes to change the use of offices to run a taxi business.

Mohammed Iqbal of 34 Cars Ltd has applied to City of York Council concerning the premises at Gladstone Garage on Outgang Lane, Osbaldwick.

The plans say the structure will remain the same, apart from a new first floor balcony at the dispatch room. It would also be a relocation to Unit 1 Heritage Park from the nearby larger Unit 2.

His application said: “We are making no design changes to either the exterior or interior of this building and only asking for change of use from B1 offices to be able to run a 24hour taxi business.

“It would be our intention to take telephone bookings and dispatch bookings to our vehicles from this address, this would however not require any aerials as work is dispatched via the internet as data messages.

“As we do not dispatch work by word of mouth, drivers will not be encouraged to attend the office unless they have business to attend to with management. We would not envisage vehicles parking in the area as it is some distance from where the bulk of their work will be.”

It also said: “Since COVID, our automated taxi bookings have increased to where we now have 65% automation. On site staffing levels are now lower than 2019 levels and not expected to increase.”