CITY planners have given a leading coffee shop brand the go-ahead to build a drive-thru in Glasgow's West End.

Costa coffee will build a drive thru facility within the existing car park in the Anniesland retail park on Crow Road.

The firm said in a planning statement: "The proposed new coffee shop will enhance the overall space and with its sit-in and outdoor

seating bring a café culture feel to the park, heightening the community spirit for local residents, employees and visiting shoppers. The new premises will provide additional employment and ensure future investment in the park."

Full planning permission subject to conditions was granted to the development this week.

Costa coffee is the second largest coffeehouse chain in the world and the largest in the UK.

Brothers Bruno and Sergio Costa founded a coffee roastery in Lambeth, Central London, in 1971, supplying local caterers. The family had moved to England in the 1960s. Costa branched out to selling coffee in 1978, when its first store opened in Vauxhall Bridge Road, London.

The company is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Whitbread and it operates more than 2,000 outlets in the UK.