WINCHESTER Guildhall will soon house a fish and chip restaurant and takeaway as plans have been approved to transform a former council-run café.

As previously reported, Lenny Carr-Roberts, who owns The Fox in Crawley and The Bugle in Twyford, lodged a premise license for Eighteen71 in The Guildhall, alongside his business partner Kevin Watson.

Now Winchester City Council have given the green light for alterations to be carried out to redevelop the unit into restaurant and takeaway business ‘Shoal’.

A small number of internal alterations will be made to the unit to allow the restaurant to function as a stand-alone business, separate from the guildhall. These include infilling archways, forming two new openings in walls, a new partition wall and the creation of WC’s.

The current metal-framed double-glazed doors and windows will be replaced with timber framed glazing, but the application says that the timber will be painted black to match the existing design.

The application was approved last week by planning officers, but not everyone was happy with the design.

The City of Winchester Trust objected to the plans and said: “The Guildhall is a foremost civic building of significant architectural merit, and the trust believes that having a fish and chip takeaway on its front elevation would be a slight to its dignity and a degradation of its character in this prime position on the Broadway.

“The trust feels that it would be more acceptable to have the restaurant entrance on the Broadway frontage, and the takeaway entrance on the east frontage, and we therefore urge that the current internal configuration be revised.”

This was not taken up by planning chiefs when a decision notice was issued.

Speaking previously, Mr Carr-Roberts told the Chronicle: “The venue will become a traditional smart family fish and chip restaurant. That will also have a takeaway area, using sustainable local caught Solent fish.

“I aspire for it to become the best value and best rated restaurant in Winchester along with my other two restaurants The Bugle Inn and The Fox.”

The premise license application previously said that the restaurant could open between 9am and midnight Monday to Sunday, it is also looking to sell alcohol during the same times.

Live music could also be played between 6pm and 10pm Monday to Sunday.