A new Costa drive-thru will be opened near the former Manston Airport site.

Thanet District Council's planning committee nodded through the national coffee chain's proposal, which involves opening a branch on Laundry Road in Minster, next to the Premier Inn and opposite the Co-op services and McDonald's.

Developer Decimus Property Ltd, which submitted the planning application on behalf of Costa in March, says the café will provide a "vibrant roadside service development".

In a report by case officer Emma Fibbens to the council's planning committee, the new drive-thru and café is described as a "sustainable form of development".

"Whilst there is not a retail need for the development in this location, there will be very limited impact upon the countryside.

"This limited environmental harm needs to be weighed against the economic and social benefits of the coffee shop use on the edge of a village, where it is sustainably located to serve the community.

"In this instance the economic and social benefits are considered to warrant a need for the development that outweighs the impact to the countryside."

The development, agreed by the planning committee last Wednesday, will include the widening of the junction at Tothill Street and Laundry Road.

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