Proposed hours increase for restaurant that is yet to open
A PROPOSED restaurant in a landmark building in the town centre could be extending its opening hours.
Plans are already approved to turn the former Lloyds bank building on The Borough into a restaurant and five apartments.
Now a further application has been filed to allow it to stay open into the early hours of the morning from Thursday to Saturday.
The new application is for the ground floor eatery to open Sunday to Monday from 8am to midnight, Thursdays from 8am to 2am and on Fridays and Saturdays from 8am to 4am.
The approved proposal included opening hours of Monday to Saturday from 11am to 10.30pm and Sundays from 11am to 9.30pm.
The previous application was approved in March 2017 on the back of several alterations to the submission including reducing the number of flats on the first and second floor initially from eight, then seven down to five.
The site, last used as a Coral bookmakers and vacant since March 2009, already had planning permission for conversion to a bar and three flats. This was granted in 2015 after the sale of the property.
However, while the original purchaser wanted to convert the ground floor into a bar the new owners sought and gained sanction to transform the space into a restaurant/cafe.
The proposal will see apartments created on the first floor and existing roof space with skylights inserted on the flat sections of the roof line to prevent them spoiling the traditional look of the building.
Toilets will be located in the basement.
The development has no dedicated parking but planning officers for Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council suggested residents would either rely on public transport or use nearby town centre car parks.
The building was closed down in 1998 by Lloyds when it merged with TSB. The outside features an imposing facade of two bays and two storeys, has a heavy cornice and an elaborate central doorway, with its pediment broken by the Lloyds logo of a leaping horse.