Fast-food giant Burger King is to open alongside one of the UK’s first drive-through coffee shops on the outskirts of Shrewsbury.

News of the Burger King development at Battlefield comes just days after Starbucks opened a drive-through coffee store at the complex, which already includes the Halls livestock market and the Two Henrys pub.

It is not yet known how many jobs Burger King will be creating.

The chain already has a site at the Dobbies island but its restaurant in the town centre closed a number of years ago.

Simon Airey, president of Shrewsbury Business Chamber, today welcomed the development but warned it was also important that the town centre remained attractive too.

He said: “It’s good that national companies want to expand their business in Shrewsbury and it’s an indication that they see Shrewsbury as a good place to invest in, even after the last 12 months when business hasn’t been easy for anybody.

“It’s okay as long as a presence continues to be maintained in the town centre. A lot of professionals have already moved out because of business parks on the outskirts and you have to be careful of the ‘doughnut effect’ where you can have all the businesses located around the outskirts of a town and a dead town centre.”

But Mr Airey claimed the jobs boost the new Burger King will provide would be good for the town’s economy.