A CARWASH in Tilehurst has been forced to close and has been boarded up for the past few weeks. 

Diamond Wash, on the Oxford Road near Waitrose, opened in 2009 but suddenly shut recently. 

Wooden boards can be seen outside the carwash, and there is no visible notice explaining why it has shut. Similarly nothing is on the carwash’s Facebook page.

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The local authority has said the reason why the business shut is because planning permission had expired six years ago, and people had started complaining last March to Reading Borough Council. 

A council spokesman said: “The car wash has been operating on site since 2009, under two temporary planning permissions, the second of which expired in December 2013. 

“Since that date it has been authorised. In March 2019, following a number of complaints from members of the public, to do with poor operating practices and highways issues, we served a breach of condition notice, requiring the use to cease. 

“The negotiated compliance date for the notice was December 31, 2019 — it has now been complied with.” 

The owners of the carwash could not be contacted for a comment as no contact details could be found.