A FORMER Rhyl petrol station looks set to be transformed into a supermarket convenience store.
Wm Morrisons has submitted an alcohol premises licence for the former Esplanade Petrol Service Station, Coast Road, but no planning application has yet been submitted for an M-local store.
Concerns have been raised by nearby traders over the hours of the licence, 7am to 11pm, the impact of a supermarket convenience store on their business and increased traffic.
Bob Sykes, who has run Denmore Stores for 28 years and whose alcohol licence starts at 10.15am, said: “There is concern about people being able to buy alcohol so early in the morning. You could get people in the area, which is a residential area, drinking early in the morning.
“There is a school nearby and kids are going to have to go past there.”
Mr Sykes also warned of increased traffic, claiming a number of accidents had taken place when the site operated as a petrol station.
Kalaivanan Egamparam, 49, who owns Rhyl Food and Wine, opposite the proposed site, said: "It will have a huge impact on our trade.
"I do not think it is the right place, they do not need to come here."
There are currently five M-local stores in the UK.
The alcohol application will be discussed at a meeting of Denbighshire Council's licensing subcommittee meeting on Friday.