A GROUP of restaurateurs are one step closer to transforming a former retail unit on Winchester high street into an eatery.

Tas Food Ltd applied to Winchester City Council to site extraction equipment to roof plant area of the former Next store at 9-11 High Street.

Companies House lists the applicants as take-away food shops and mobile food stands.

The application has now been approved by planning officers, but no further details have been given on which business could take over the space.

Loungers, which runs the Cosy Club and Lounges chains, was given permission to convert the former Next shop in August 2020, but then the Covid pandemic struck, and no work has taken place.

The unit has already been given the go-ahead to be converted into a café/restaurant from retail when Loungers applied to Winchester City Council.