Coffee chain Starbucks say customers won't have long to wait until their new drive-thru opens at Asda Lancaster

In January, Lancaster City Council gave the go-ahead for a coffee shop and drive-thru which would require the removal of 61 existing car parking spaces from the total 450 at the store in Ovangle Road. At the time, details of which brand of coffee shop would take on the unit had not been revealed.

But on Monday, Starbucks confirmed they were the chain moving in. “We look forward to bringing the Starbucks Experience to customers in Lancaster in the near future and will be in touch once we have more specific plans to share,” a brief statement read.

The shop will replace an existing area of car parking situated to the eastern corner of the car park area, where construction work has now got under way. The plan involves the overall reduction of 45 parking spaces with 16 being allocated for the new development.

Several other Starbucks drive-thrus have opened next to Asda supermarkets across the UK, and permission has been given for one in the car park of the Fulwood store in Preston. It will be the company's fourth drive-thru in the city and will add to two other sit-in Starbucks in Preston and one in Walton-le-Dale. Starbucks already operates drive-thrus in Blue Bell Way, Blackpool Road and on Preston's Dock Estate.

The new drive-thrus are the work of the Euro Garages Group, set up by Blackburn brothers Mohsin and Zuber Issa, who bought Asda in 2021.