INDEPENDENTLY owned Highfield Garden World in Whitminster has won outline planning permission to further extend its growing business which sits alongside the A38 near Junction 13 of the M5.

Founded, owned and run by three generations of the Greenway family, Highfield currently employs 140 local people and is the leading independent garden centre in Gloucestershire with a turnover of £8m.

Around 20,000 customers per week visit the site, which includes a large atrium restaurant.

Now, the next stage in Highfield’s development will boost the number of seats in the restaurant up to 500.

Extra retail space, new planteria areas, expanded kitchen facilities and 120 more car parking spaces are also included in the plans.

Co-founder and director, Tim Greenway said: “We have our customers and all of our brilliant staff to thank for helping Highfield to thrive over so many years.

"Once a small business selling trees and plants by mail order many moons ago, Highfield has evolved bit by bit to offer food, fashion, furniture, gifts, concessions and more to become a retail destination in its own right but always with our gardening heritage at heart.

"Business has been especially buoyant since we launched our new restaurant and extra retail space in 2014, and we’re on course to have an even bigger, better Highfield offering now we’ve secured outline planning permission for the next exciting stage in our development.”