A coffee retailer given the go ahead for a new drive-through has been told to cough up £30,000 to mitigate air pollution in the area after objections from residents.

Worthing Borough Council’s planning committee has given Costa the provisional green light for its proposed new site in Downlands Retail Park at Lyons Farm.

Committee members were satisfied with the commitment made by Costa to replace trees set to be felled in the car park area with good quality specimens of native tree species.

But they wanted a contribution towards mitigating the effects of additional air pollution in the area.

Costa estimates that its new coffee shop will attract just short of 500 car movements a day.

A council spokesman said: “Whilst this number is small compared with the number of cars using the Lyons Farm junction, the committee took the view that polluting effects should still be mitigated.”

The company has been asked to pay £30,903 for pollution monitoring equipment which will be used in close proximity to the drive-through.

It is also required to put up signs calling on customers to turn engines off while queueing to reduce the level of polluting car emissions.

Councillor Jim Deen, chairman of Worthing Borough Council’s planning committee, said councillors were “disappointed” that they could not impose conditions on Costa to make the building more eco-friendly.

“We were aware of public concerns about the potential pollution from a development at this difficult location, and the need for good landscaping,” he said.

“We have done what is within our powers to reduce the impact of the development.

“We are disappointed that we were not able to impose conditions on Costa to make their building more energy efficient by introducing solar panels, but we have made it clear that we want developers to take these issues much more seriously in the future.”

Downlands Road Retail Park is currently home to B&Q, Currys and Bensons for Beds and features a 396-space car park.

Under the plans, 26 of those spaces would go to make way for a coffee shop, a drive-through lane with access from the north-east, an outdoor seating area, two waiting bays for customers and landscaping within the existing car park.

The development will create around 15 new jobs.