A Hornchurch pet store may soon become an all-ages tuition centre, with classes to be held from 9am to 9pm.

The Broadway’s Elm Park Pets, which stocks a variety of supplies as well as pets themselves, will make way for the new centre if a recent change of use application is approved.

In a letter supporting the application, the owner of Elm Park Pets, Yasin Shaaban Hamouda, wrote they had been trying to sell the business because it has been losing money since the start of the pandemic in March 2020.

Planning documents state aesthetic changes would include new signage, and internal space will be reimagined to accommodate 34 students across its ground and lower-ground floor classrooms.

A spokesperson for Cityscape PA, the agent working on behalf of the applicant Shah Zaman, said the proposal will "provide a valuable community service".

"It will bring a different use to the town centre that is compatible with the other uses already present; in doing so, it will contribute positively towards the town centre and help towards its rejuvenation," they said.

View the application using the reference P0681.22.