ABINGDON could be about to lose one of its last ties to the cult car brand that employed generations of residents.

Warehouses that once served as part of the MG car factory are set to be demolished to make way for 93 homes, flattening a 'pilgrimage site' that pays homage to the employer's 50-year reign in the town.

The Colwell Drive site is currently part of Abingdon Business Park and taken up by eight corrugated warehouses, which XLB Property Ltd and Rockspring UK want to demolish to build 59 flats and 34 houses.

Richard Martin, chairman of the Abingdon Works Centre of the MG Car Club, said: "It's really the only visible sign that MG was there – everything bar one building looks as it did – it was a landmark.

"Things move on but from a heritage point of view it will be disappointing to lose something still as recognisable as it was when MG was there.

"Many people have memories of it so it would be sad to lose it."

Mr Martin said many visitors come to the town in search of the MG factory which once stretched to where Abingdon Police Station now sits.

Historian and Peachcroft resident Bob Frampton has written a book about the factory, which ran from 1929 until its shock closure in 1979.

The 69-year-old said: "It was a major employer in the town and still has thousands of visitors every year on a sort of pilgrimage. People go to those warehouses and have their photos taken.

"The town has to evolve and they have got to build somewhere, but I suppose the developer ought to leave something there of them and make that a shrine to MG.

"I think people will be upset but will come to terms with it."

One comment on the planning application to Vale of White Horse District Council raised concerns about an increase in traffic and pollution. 

Documents submitted by the developer insist that the homes would decrease traffic in and out of the site, in which some units are empty and others occupied by businesses including Howdens Joinery and UK Mail.

XLB director Tony Lawson did not rule out adding an MG monument within the estate, adding: "I have sympathy; I am not one to erase history."

He said XLB and Rockspring have invested millions into Abingdon Business Park since buying it last year, adding: "These buildings are a bit divorced from the rest of the site. They are pretty old and it's not economic to bring them back into full repair."

He did not clarify whether businesses renting the warehouses were on-board with the plans.

Consultation ends on November 9 and the council is due to make its decision by January.