A company which supplied hand sanitiser during the coronavirus pandemic wants to expand production at its Littleport site.

CambCol Ltd diversified its business during the pandemic and recently won a contract to supply hand sanitiser to Transport for London, according to a letter to East Cambridgeshire District Council’s planning department

And now company would like a temporary building for five years at its site at the Oak Lane Business Park to ramp up production and storage facilities.

The letter submitted by their agent Cheffins said: “The proposed building (and their existing premises) will be used for the temporary production of hand sanitiser... which is in urgent demand by a range of public bodies and health care providers as a result of the COVID-19 virus.”

It continues: “Following information discussions with East Cambridgeshire Planning Manager, the applicant obtained an ethanol licence and has been producing hand sanitiser for the NHS / MOD / Care Home sectors from the site.

“CambCol have also recently secured a new contract with TFL (Transport for London), with production due to start next month.”

CambCol was first established in 2014 and has developed medical products which can be used in wound dressings or skin care products for treatments such as scar therapy.

The letter supporting the planning application explains that hand sanitiser production is taking place within a temporary scaffolding structure at the side of the main CambCol unit.

Planners are aware of this, but the arrangement is not considered to be a suitable option for the mid-term as CambCol is currently unable to store ethanol at its premises overnight.

The letter explains: “Hand sanitiser is produced mainly from ethanol and its properties mean that it cannot be safely stored within the existing building...

“Due to the current climate, demand for hand sanitiser has been growing significantly and the need for a suitable, and purpose built, temporary building has become essential to help meet that demand.”

If given the go-ahead, the temporary building will sit on a 0.74 acre site and will have a total floor space of 300 square meters.