A WINE bottling company has been granted planning permission for a new warehouse which it says could create up to 70 new jobs.

The Lanchester Group, which operates a bottling plant on Greencroft Industrial Estate just outside Annfield Plain, has won permission for a new storage facility on a 6.7-hectare area of scrubland next to its current plant.

The new 19,000 sq-metre warehouse was granted conditional approval by members of Durham County Council’s county planning committee earlier this week.

The building, which will include staff shower facilities and a canteen, will store bottled wine awaiting distribution and also have a loading and parking facilities for up to 64 HGVs.

Some concerns were expressed by neighbours and Greencroft Parish Council about the impact of noise from lorries on residents of houses at nearby Maiden Law, but the company agreed a number of amendments to reduce the impact.

Lanchester Group, which is already the second largest wine bottler in the UK, says the new £2.2m warehouse is key to its expansion plans which will create around 70 jobs.