Apartments plan for Preston's old Tiggis building

People who enjoyed dining at Preston’s iconic Tiggis restaurant over the years could soon be living there.

Plans have been submitted to convert the upper three floors of the striking building in Guildhall Street into 11 luxury apartments.

Owners of the property, which now trades as Fino Tapas on the ground floor, want to join the drive for city centre living in Preston by refurbishing the upstairs to provide eight one-bedroom flats and three two-bed.

The planning application follows a similar one for 14 apartments which was turned down by the city council earlier this year due to worries over noise for residents living above a busy eatery. But now developers Guildhall Place Limited have pledged to install state-of-the-art sound insulation to remedy the issue.

In its heyday Tiggis was arguably Preston’s best-known city centre restaurant. It traded in Guildhall Street for almost 40 years - opening in 1978 and mysteriously closing down in July 2017.

News that it had shut its doors sent shockwaves across the city, with hundreds of former customers expressing their sorrow at the time on social media.

The building re-opened in February 2018 as A Mano, an Italian-style restaurant run by Chris Maughan, owner of Theatre Street Bar and Grill. Within months he had changed its name to Palm Court, dropping the Italian theme and serving a more British menu.

Only last month Mark O’Rourke moved his Fino Tapas restaurant into the building after admitting his premises in St Wilfrid Street were too small during Covid.