ST IVES is set to lose its Vauxhall showroom next year, when Murketts returns to Huntingdon after the marque s absence for nearly a decade. The previous Vauxhall dealership was demolished in the late 1990s to make way for the Sainsbury s development, and

ST IVES is set to lose its Vauxhall showroom next year, when Murketts returns to Huntingdon after the marque's absence for nearly a decade.

The previous Vauxhall dealership was demolished in the late 1990s to make way for the Sainsbury's development, and Murkett Brothers took over the St Ives dealership from Inchcape in 2003.

The company has now submitted plans for a new showroom and workshop between its BMW dealership in Stukeley Road, Huntingdon, and the Shell petrol station at the Spittals Way roundabout.

Subject to planners' agreement to the proposals, the new facility should open early in 2009, managing director Nigel Murkett told The Hunts Post.

When that happens, the staff from the leased St Ives site will transfer to Huntingdon. But more jobs could be on the way in the future.

"The new site should prove to offer a better business environment than St Ives, which is rather tucked away. As sales develop, we expect to need more people," Mr Murkett said.

The family-owned company, which also has dealerships in Cambridge, Stapleford and Royston, has been in business locally for over 100 years. In the 1930s, it built the now-closed and soon-to-be-demolished Grand Cinema in Ramsey.