A FAMILY-run firm that has been supplying fuel and animal feed to south Cumbria for over 125 years has applied for permission to build a 950-square-metre unit on its site.

W Dawson and Sons Ltd, based at Station Yard in Sedbergh since 1895, propose to construct a seven-bay, single-span, portal-framed building, with the intention of dividing it into seven separate units.

The company delivers coal and woodfuel, along with agricultural feed to towns as far as Kendal, Appleby, and Kirkby Stephen.

The Design and Access Statement submitted with the application to the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority says: "The Dawson family have been linked with the site since 1895.

"Between then and 1964 the family were tenants renting the site from the LMS Rail Company and operating in conjunction with the Rail Company as a distribution hub dealing principally in coal, animal feed, and lime.

"Following the closure of the railway in 1966 the grandfather of the current owners purchased the site.

"The above uses, together with some storage and distribution have continued up until the present day.

"In order to ensure continued prosperity, this application seeks permission for a new speculative industrial unit suitable for light industrial, general manufacturing, and storage uses."