Fifty jobs are set to be created, with plans for a new car dealership in Carlisle.

A major national retailer has submitted proposals for a “car store” at Kingmoor Park – which would give the city a big economic boost.

Pendragon PLC is behind the plans for an Evans Halshaw branch.

The car giant, which sells nearly new and second-hand vehicles, wants to open on Kingsway, just off the city bypass.

The site, on former agricultural land near Thomas Graham & Sons Steel Stockholders and Industrial Supplies, is currently sitting empty.

The city’s MP, John Stevenson, has welcomed the move.

He said: “This is very positive news for the city.

“It demonstrates that Carlisle is a place where businesses want to invest.

“The fact that it will create new jobs is also good news.”

He felt it would add to what is already a “vibrant economy”.

In an application to Carlisle City Council, Pendragon explains why it is looking to invest in north Cumbria.

It states: “Carlisle is an excellent strategic location for the applicant, with easy access to the main artery on the M6, from which the new car store would serve the region of Cumbria, but is also easily accessible from Lancashire, Northumberland and southern Scotland.

“Evans Halshaw is a major national employer and this would be a strategic new branch where sales executives, management professionals and experienced vehicle technicians would be recruited locally.”

The car store would include a vehicle sales centre, external vehicle sales area, vehicle workshop and MOT facility.

There would be customer and staff parking, vehicle wash and valet bays, a repair bay and a refuse compound.

The jobs on offer will range from a dealer principal to sales executives, accounts assistants and service advisors.

The application says the firm would create 51 full time jobs and one part time position.

An application for a new Sytner Mercedes dealership on Spellar Way, Kingmoor Park, was approved in August last year and in the last few weeks work has begun on the site.

Kingmoor Park officially became an Enterprise Zone in April 2016 and since then a host of local, regional and national firms have expressed an interest in taking up space on the site.

Enterprise Zone status brings incentives including up to 100 per cent business rate discount – worth a maximum £275,000 over five years – simplified local authority planning and support to ensure superfast broadband is available.