Cinco's and Boca owner in bid to convert newsagents into bar

The man behind a popular Mexican restaurant, and cocktail bar, in Poulton may be planning a new venture, documents have revealed.
A previous picture of Simon Liptrott and Carla Smith at Boca Cafe Bar in Breck Road, PoultonA previous picture of Simon Liptrott and Carla Smith at Boca Cafe Bar in Breck Road, Poulton
A previous picture of Simon Liptrott and Carla Smith at Boca Cafe Bar in Breck Road, Poulton

Simon Liptrott wants to turn the former Breck News shop in Breck Road – next door to Cinco’s and across the road from Boca Cafe Bar – into a new drinking hole, and has applied for a change of use, papers lodged with Wyre Council have shown.

If approved by planners, the bar would be manned by one full time and six part time staff, working the equivalent of four full-time jobs, the papers added.

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The shop’s layout would also be largely untouched, with only a bar and an extra toilet being added, according to current drawings.

Mr Liptrott, who lives in Hambleton, said: “We are not moving Boca, and we are not sure if we having a separate bar or knocking through [from Cinco’s].

“We will offering something different that Poulton has not got. I have some ideas in my head, but I don’t want to tell you yet.”

Both Cinco’s and Boca have hugely positive ratings on online review site TripAdvisor, and was voted one of Lancashire’s best cocktail bars by The Gazette readers last November.

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But the reaction to its ultimately successful bid to turn into a late night bar from a cafe in 2011 was not as warm.

Previously, it could only sell booze with meals, but applied for a full licence, and to open from 9am until midnight on Sundays.

Jeanette Morley, of nearby Lockwood Avenue, said: “The rubbish we have to put up with on [a] Sunday morning is already a problem.”

Mrs Morley argued live music would ‘cause more disturbances in the area’, and added: “We already hear car doors banging at all hours in the morning.”

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And Chris Tupling, of Breck Road, said Poulton already had too many bars. “Poulton reached saturation point a long time ago regarding bars, and Breck Road has more than its share,” he said.

Since 2011, bars in Poulton have come and gone, including The Matrix, also in Breck Road, which was replaced by Mojo’s.

That also closed, with cocktail bar, Platform 3, now open in its place.

Uber in Vicarage Road also closed last year after the council suspended its licence. It came after ‘serious’ concerns raised by police following an alleged attack at the club.

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That was replaced by Deja Vu, which boasts three bars, including one for VIPs.

And Truth opened opposite The Grapevine in the Market Place last month.

The newsagents in Breck Road reportedly closed late last month, with Mr Liptrott saying in his planning documents that the premises was ‘currently empty’.

It led to speculation by locals online that Cinco’s would be ‘extending into it’.

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