New restaurant and bar coming to Leyland town centre in former charity shop

The restaurant and bar venture will open in the former Barnardo’s charity shop on Hough Lane, next to Leyland United Reformed Church.

South Ribble Borough Council’s planning committee granted permission for the outlet, which will be based just two doors down from an existing wine bar, No.55 Leyland.

The applicant - Wine & Beer Co. Ltd. - is listed as being registered at that neighbouring premises.

Like that venue, the new restaurant will have an outdoor seating area at the front, where there will be room for six tables. The space will be segregated from the street by a near one-metre-tall barrier, which the committee was told will create a similar and consistent frontage to that of No.55.

Inside, there will be a bar and approximately four tables and the same number of seating booths.

The applicant sought - and was given - permission for potential opening hours of midday until 1am any day of the week. However, a condition imposed by the council means that use of the outdoor area will not be permitted after 10pm, “so [as] not to cause a nuisance to nearby residential properties”.

No external speakers, floodlighting or patio heaters will be allowed in the external seating area, while a new extraction system which is to be installed must be switched off after 9pm.

A report to the committee said that the proposal accorded with an aim of South Ribble’s local plan to “maintain and enhance the viability and vitality of Leyland town centre” - and especially to support the evening economy in the town.

It also noted that a venue of the type proposed must have “a robust security strategy” in place - and said that the necessary details, including regarding the installation of CCTV, had been provided.

It is expected that the business will be operated by three full-time and 10 part-time staff.

Committee member Will Adams said that it could “only be a good thing” to bring back into use a vacant shop “in a thriving area of the high street”. His colleagues appeared to agree - and the application was unanimously approved.