AROUND 20 new jobs would be created if a Somerset food plant is allowed to expand.

Food firm Jardox has applied for permission to build a new storage warehouse on land neighbouring its current base in Saxon Way, on the Wincanton Business Park, changing the use of the site from agricultural land to commercial use.

The scheme would see a 15 metre-high, steel portal frame building developed on land adjacent to the company’s current buildings, allowing for increased storage.

Western Design Architects, which has submitted the plans, said the building would allow “an automated production process” at the production facility.

“The building will have a first floor mezzanine to allow for offices, staff welfare and WCs for approximately 20 staff members,” it said.

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“The new building will be linked to the existing warehouse. In addition to the warehouse, the applicant wants to maintain access off Murray Way and aims to form a one-way road system to make it easier and less congested for the lorries to pass through the site and into/out of the warehouse after loading by exiting onto Saxon Way.

“The proposed building will sit partly on the existing tarmac and partly on the adjacent field to the existing warehouse.”

Jardox is a ‘behind-the-scenes’ supplier, creating food products for other brands, including supermarkets and home cooking kit companies.

It is a major employer at its site in Wincanton and provides food products across the country.

For more details on the plans, and to comment, log on to somerset.gov.uk and search application reference 25/02806/FUL.

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Agricultural land next to the current Jardox site would see a new warehouse built. Picture: Western Design/Somerset Council