Plans to run a taxi hire business out of a phone repair shop in Wantage have been withdrawn.

The application would have seen an existing room at Mobi Wantage used as an office for an online or phone-based taxi service for between seven to 10 private hire vehicles.

Customers would not have visited the premises in person and no cars would have been kept on site. One member of staff would have operated from the building.

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The withdrawal follows an objection from the leaseholder of the property Mehmet Elbir who claimed he had not been informed of the change of use application.

He said: “I was not informed of this change of use. I object to this change of use and request the application to be cancelled.”

Robin Heath of Green & Co estate agents added: “We are retained by the freeholder/landlord of these premises.

“Firstly, no formal notification of this application has been received. Secondly, taxi businesses per se are a Sui Generis use and these premises are established under Use Class E.

“Therefore we question the validity of a CLPUD application anyway, for what is really a change of use requiring a regular planning application.”

A third objection, from a man called Anthony, added there was “no unused office available” and that the application was “contrary to the existing permitted use.”