For decades, the grain silos off Weyhill Road have towered over neighbouring buildings in the town, steel and dwarfing properties sitting beneath it.

But plans for an Andover business to extend its footprint in the town are set to see them go, with the town council nodding through a proposal to secure the site's use as a distribution hub.

Switch Logistics, which currently owns the former goods yard at Andover station, has recently bought these grain silos as part of plans to convert the site. At a meeting of the town council’s planning committee last night, they gave no objection to an application by the company.

Councillor Luigi Gregori, who sits on the committee, said: “I’ve got no objection on that. It will go in due course and be turned into a Switch Logistics site.”

The site was originally developed into grain silos in the 1940s, with large concrete structures built on the land. Offices were built later, in the late 1970s, as the then-owner Frontier Agriculture expanded at the site.

The concrete silos were later condemned in the 1990s as unsuitable for storing grain, and were replaced by steel alternatives.

Switch Logistics applied last month for a certificate of lawful use on the site, allowing it to continue to use it for offices and distribution, after a ‘speculative purchase’ of the property. Under their plans for the site, the concrete silos will be demolished, while the steel silos will be sold to another business for reuse elsewhere, which will be achieved under permitted development laws.

The site will then be reduced to a hardstanding for lorries to park on, with the offices and warehouse to continue in use for the time being.

The certificate application was presented to Andover Town Council’s Planning Committee on July 13, and was quickly passed with no objection by councillors.

However, it remains under consideration by Test Valley Borough Council (TVBC) planning officers, who will decide upon an outcome at a later date. If you would like to have your say on the application, search the TVBC planning portal with the reference: 21/01848/CLEN