THIS is the first glimpse of a multi-million-pound shopping scheme that aims to create at least 70 jobs.

A developer is planning to bulldoze a used car centre and replace it with a KFC restaurant and drive-thru, a similar facility operated by Costa Coffee, and two other retail outlets.

The proposals were revealed by the Daily Echo two months ago and have now been submitted to council planners.

Hampshire-based Gentian Developments is seeking consent to redevelop what the planning application describes as a “barren, tired-looking site” next to the Rushington roundabout at Totton.

Gentian says the “bleak landscape” would be transformed by a unique scheme if New Forest District Council gives it the green light.

The application coincides with plans to build a McDonald’s restaurant and drive-thru in Commercial Road, Totton. As reported in the Daily Echo, the Gentian scheme includes the first Costa Coffee drive-thru in the south as well as a KFC.

Gentian confirmed that the proposed development represented a multi-million-pound investment in Totton but declined to reveal the exact cost, claiming the figure was commercially sensitive.

Town councillors have warned that the scheme could result in the roundabout becoming too busy. But Gentian’s application says the people who carried out a traffic assessment saw “no significant queuing” in the area.

It adds: “Where queues did form, these were not identified as being stationary for any significant period and continued to slowly move forward.

The assessment concludes that any queuing traffic will dissipate within an acceptable timescale.”

Gentian spokesman George Mellery-Pratt said: “Gentian Development Group is committed to this significant investment in Totton. The development will regenerate this gateway location and deliver approximately 70 jobs.”

A council spokesman said the application had only just come in and would not be decided until March or April. The site is currently occupied by the Ridgeway Used Car Centre, which is planning to move to a new location.