Garage to get MOT test bay after years of driving cars elsewhere
MRW Engineering's mechanics have to take vehicles to another site two miles away
A garage just outside Chippenham is set to get its own MOT test bay after years of driving vehicles over two miles for their tests.
The MRW Engineering garage in Lanhill has been running for over 30 years, repairing and servicing vehicles at the Fir Tree Villas workshop.
Wiltshire Council has approved a planning application that grants permission for an extension to an existing building to provide additional workshop floor space and an MOT test bay.
According to the plans, the current workshop space is “overcrowded” and an extension would allow the mechanics to work “more effectively”, whilst providing “safe, secure storage” of vehicles and parts during non-business hours.
The application stated: “The business repair and service vehicles, with a split of 25 per cent being agricultural and commercial vehicles with the remaining 75 per cent being cars.
“As part of the service, the vehicles are currently driven 2.4 miles into Chippenham to be MOT tested, this is often done three to four times a day, with the traveling taking up one to two hours per day.”
Wiltshire Council’s case officer agreed that as well as increasing the efficiency of the business, on-site MOT testing would decrease traffic movements on local roads, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and increasing highway safety.