Wakefield-based Harratts Group, which has five franchises and 11 sites, including Nissan, Volvo, Renault, Peugeot and Mitsubishi has been awarded three more franchises in the Yorkshire area. They are Volvo in Bradford and Sheffield and Peugeot in Barnsley.

Harratts is investing more than £4.5m in developing the sites over the next two years.

The company was awarded the Volvo franchise for Bradford in March, following the closure of Mount Garage and will operate from a purpose-built site from August. Around 30 new jobs will be created.

The Sheffield site was acquired from David Hinchcliffe in February and Harratts will continue to operate from the present site until a new facility has been built in the next 18 months.

Harratts will run the new Peugeot franchise from its existing Nissan outlet in Barnsley until a new showroom is completed.

John Armstrong, Harratts' operations manager, said: "All three new franchise gains come in the wake of a revision of dealership commitment by the car manufacturers, who are keen to develop true partnerships with their franchises."