Expansion plan for well-known Blackpool restaurant and bar

Robert Wynne is proposing to extend the West Coast Rock Cafe, which has traded on Abingdon Street for more than three decades, into ground floor premises after taking over the former Greenwoods menswear store below.

Mr Wynne, who is a former mayor of the town, said he opted to go ahead with the investment despite the uncertainty caused by the coronavirus outbreak.

He said developments such as the construction of a new conference centre alongside the Winter Gardens had helped fuel his confidence in Blackpool’s future.

Mr Wynne said: “This is a big expansion for us after 33 years of the West Coast Rock Cafe and we are really excited.

“Friends have told me that I have only done this because I am getting too old to climb the stairs, but we have been trying to acquire the ground floor for a long time now.

“We did have the chance to pull out of the deal when the coronaviirus lockdown started, but optimism always triumphs with us.

“I am sure the next year will be hard for all of us in the restaurant and hospitality business, but things will get better.

“The new conference centre will open, people will holiday more locally and the sun will shine all year long.”

Mr Wynne, who owns other town centre businesses including the Brew Room on Church Street and the Rose and Crown on Corporation Street, has applied for planning permission to convert the former menswear store into restaurant and bar use.

A planned layout shows around 20 tables on the ground floor along with a bar, kitchen facilities and toilets.

Following the collapse of the Greenwoods chain, all stores were closed in January 2019.

The application will now go before town hall planners for consideration at a future date.