HIGHBRIDGE residents will soon be able to enjoy a Starbucks coffee after the government’s highways agency withdrew its objection to company plans for a location there.

KMW Trading Ltd. and Cobra Coffee Ltd. jointly applied in February to build a Starbucks drive-thru on the Oaktree Business Park, located off the A38 Bristol Road to the north of the town.

A Somerset Council planning committee voted to grant permission when the plans were discussed in Bridgwater on October 8.

National Highways (which manages the M5) had raised concerns about the impact the new business would have on the Edithmead roundabout, which would have required central government to step in and make a final decision on the plans.

But the agency has now withdrawn its objection, meaning that construction can begin in earnest in the new year.

The drive-thru will be constructed at the southern end of the business park, next to the existing Howdens store and within walking distance of the town’s McDonald’s outlet, which opened in mid-September.

The outlet will have 19 car parking spaces (along with two disabled bays and one space for motorcycles) and could create up to 30 full- or part-time jobs for the local area.

The scheme attracted no objection from Burnham and Highbridge Town Council and very few letters of objection from local residents during the official consultation period.