A petrol station on a major route into Chester is due to re-open in December following a revamp costing £900,000 and lasting more than four months.
The Shell filling station in Hoole Road is having aging underground tanks replaced with modern doubled skinned tanks and plastic noncorrosive pipe work, new pumps and canopy.
Any contamination caused by historic leakages will have been cleared up.
A car wash has been removed to create more space for motorists but unfortunately there wasn’t enough room to install an electric charging point.
The shop is being refurbished with new floor, ceiling, lighting and refrigeration units.
It is believed Shell bought the service station from Total in 2012.
The dealership should have a lifespan of about 20 years although from 2040 the government plans to ban the sale of new diesel and petrol cars in a bid to encourage people to buy electric vehicles.
The revamp has been carried out by project management company Artelia with a projected opening date of December 15.
Meanwhile, work is continuing to bring an underground clean-up operation to an end at Abbots Park Service Station in Liverpool Road, Chester, which was also operated by Shell. The filling station closed in late 2011 to allow investigations because of ‘a potential contamination problem’.
It was later confirmed the aging underground tanks had leaked, leading to contamination of both the ground and groundwater. The Environment Agency is satisfied the decontamination work that followed has been completed but it is unclear whether the site will revert to being a service station once again.
A Shell spokesperson said “The recent activity relates to the ongoing work on the site and the removal of equipment following environmental approvals. We cannot comment further at this time.”
