Yorkshire-based accident repair business Alton Cars and Minster Cars has acquired Knaresborough Body Repairs from the Meridian Motor Group.

The purchase, for an undisclosed sum, means the group is now among the UK’s largest independent bodyshop businesses, with a projected annual turnover this year of £7m. It increases the group’s coverage in Yorkshire and North Humberside to a 2,500 sq mile triangle encompassing its bodyshops in Leeds and York. The total workforce will now number 81 employees.

Managing director Tony Parish says the Knaresborough acquisition is the first part of the groups’ continuous expansion.

Knaresborough Body Repairs operates with 13 staff at a 1.2 acre site close to the A1M motorway, and has the capacity to repair 40 cars and vans each week.

Work providers include RSA, CIS, Churchill and Ministry of Defence.