Third bar planned for busy Preston road junction in less than a year

Plans have gone in to convert a former charity shop, at Lane Ends, Ashton, into a swanky tapas style venue, right next door to a micropub and only yards from another - both of which opened this year.

With the established Lane Ends pub in the middle of it all, the junction of Blackpool Road and Tulketh Brow could be boasting four drinking establishments in the next few months when Covid restrictions eventually lift.

The latest application is for premises which used to house the Integrate charity shop. The owners say they want to open a bar “aimed to attract a more refined clientele, with menus, ambiance and style to reflect that.”

The application says they are looking to make it “a tapas style bar which serves food and drink all day spanning brunch, lunch and evenings out. They want to create a safe space for people to come and enjoy.”

The plans suggest room for 40 seated downstairs and a further 32 upstairs. With standing customers and staff the capacity could be as many as 125. The owners have asked for opening hours of 9am to midnight Sunday to Friday and 9am to 1am Saturday.

The new bar would be next door to The Tap End micropub which, in its planning application earlier this year, also said it was aiming at “a more refined clientele,” providing “an ambient and respectful atmosphere, away from the mainstream drinking trends.”

If granted permission the bar would mean three of the four properties on the block on Blackpool Road would be drinking establishments.

The fourth, the Tulketh Tap Room which also opened earlier this year, is diagonally across the junction.

In its application it said it wanted to draw “a more mature crowd in search of a traditional small pub atmosphere.”