THE new owners of a 32-acre business park are making good on their promise to make it an incubator for growing local businesses.

In the same month they have rehomed two small firms in new offices, managers at Grove Business Park have also submitted plans for 10 new offices.

These are the latest steps in a £40m plan to regenerate the park just outside Wantage.

The two companies which snapped up space in the new-look Merlin House are a wood-burning stove company and Wantage-based weed control specialists Charlton Environmental, both of which were based at the park already.

Charlton Environmental, which has been at the park for the past decade, said it welcomed the efforts to give it a new lease of life.

Managing director Stephen John said: "The rejuvenation of the park has been a welcome improvement.

"The division of Merlin House has enabled us to work with Grove Business Park and their partners to design a building that meets our needs for a larger and more useable workspace as we grow as a company.

"The additional workshop, storage and office space that we will have once the build is complete will provide us with a better working environment with better on-site facilities for our staff, while our training division looks to benefit from the high-quality new meeting rooms available in Boston House which we are hoping to utilise in the future, leading us to achieve further sustainable growth throughout the coming years."

Property investor David Hill bought the site formerly known as Grove Technology Park for an estimated £10m in December 2015.

He and his team pledged to transform it into an 'incubation hub' to grow small, local start-ups into big-hitting businesses.

Several long-term tenants complained about the new owners' style, including some increased maintenance charges, but many others welcomed to fresh ideas.

The owners already won permission to double the built area to 400,000sq ft and this month submitted a detailed application for three new blocks containing ten offices or industrial units for sale or to let.

If permission is granted, construction is planned to start on site early in the new year with completion by December 2018.

Project director Richard Lyall said: "We know there is significant demand for this type of accommodation, especially in this part of Oxfordshire.

"It is ideally placed for business looking for a central location with its easy access to major road networks, while its new facilities will be second to none."

This latest development would replace a number of dilapidated former military buildings from when the site was used as an airfield in the Second World War.

Park owners say the regeneration could create up to 1,000 new jobs.

Members of public can see the full application online at whitehorsedc.gov.uk using reference number P17/V2429/FUL

The council is aiming to make a final decision by December 4.