A FORMER restaurant which has stood empty for seven years is to be demolished and rebuilt as a drive-through coffee shop.
Planning chiefs at Warrington have approved the development on the site of the former Harvester restaurant on the Riverside Retail Park.
Starbucks – who already operate a number of outlets across Warrington – will take over the site.
The new building will occupy roughly the same area as the former restaurant but with a wrap-around drive-through lane that will mean five parking spaces will be lost. It is expected the new coffee shop will generate a total of 17 new car trips an hour at the peak period on a Saturday.
This is considered negligible when compared with the existing weight of traffic on the local highway network.
About 12 jobs will be created.