A COFFEE house chain has unveiled plans to open a town centre branch – to the surprise of staff currently selling curtains in the building earmarked for the development.

Costa Coffee has submitted an application to set up in Derby Street, Leek, in premises occupied by soft furnishings store Ponden Mill.

Tenancy of the building has been on offer for several months, and it is understood Ponden Mill, which employs about six people, had hoped to negotiate a lower rent.

However, Costa Coffee has stolen a march to land the prime spot in the heart of Leek's main shopping street.

The London-based firm wants to set up a ground floor cafe, incorporating a new shop front and an outdoor seating area to the rear.

The development is expected to create about 10 jobs.

Staff at Ponden Mill – which was bought by Edinburgh Woollen Mills after the original Ponden Mill went into administration in 2007 – were unaware of the development until Friday and planned to seek answers from the company's area manager. It is not known when the shop would change hands. Letting agents Mason and Partners could only say that the tenancy was under offer.

Leek mayor John Povey was delighted the town could attract a business such as Costa, but frustrated it meant a thriving shop would be lost.

He said: "There are several of these national coffee cafe-style chains but none has ever set up a base in Leek. It is great to see one finally arrive.

"It looks like it may be at the expense of Ponden Mill, when it would have been better if a vacant premises had been filled.

"It is very unfortunate for the workers who may now find themselves out of a job and there should have been better communication."

The new store, if approved by Staffordshire Moorlands District Council's planning committee, will open from 8am to 7pm from Monday to Saturday.

A decision on the application is expected to be made in April.

Mr Povey said: "A Costa Coffee is certainly good from a tourism point of view as a lot of visitors look to national names for their refreshments. It is much, much preferable to another charity shop.

"It is vital the town has a range of different outlets.

"If the shop could open into the evening, too, it could be a real boost, providing something different to people in the town centre than what is currently on offer."

Costa Coffee is expected to provide competition to present Derby Street-based cafes.

A spokesman said: "An application has been submitted but details are limited at this stage." If the coffee shop materialises, use of the site would go full circle – for many years it was occupied by Tatton's Cafe.

No-one at Edinburgh Woollen Mill was available for comment.