Former bank building set to have new life as a bar
AFORMER Southport bank is set to transform into a bar – almost four years after it was closed down amid public outcry.
Plans to convert the old Royal Bank of Scotland, in Ainsdale, which closed in August 2015 were approved by Sefton Council last month.
RBS was the last remaining bank in the village, meaning costumers and businesses have since had to travel to Southport or Formby to do any banking.
After remaining empty
since, the building, on the corner of Liverpool Road and Station Road, could soon reopen if plans to transform it are approved by the council’s planning department.
The empty two-storey building covers 157sq m (1,690sq ft). Under new proposals submitted by Lee Morley there will be a bar on the ground floor, with a function room created on the first floor.
There will also be outdoor seating at the venue, to be called Morrells, at 569 Liverpool Road at the corner of Station Road.
Morrells is expected to employ four full-time and 10 part-time members of staff.
A licensing notice for the proposed bar has appeared on the borough council’s website this week.
The owners want to open seven days a week 9am-12.30am, except on Sundays, when the proposed closing time is 11.30pm.
The application also includes permission to serve alcohol and for live and recorded music.
Other drinking establishments in the immediate area include Champs, Tipple and the Toby Carvery public house.
The request will be decided upon by Sefton Council’s licensing committee.