A new provisional licence has been sought for a former restaurant in Irvine town centre.

Sukhi Sangha appeared before the North Ayrshire Licensing Board on Monday, looking for a new licence for the premises at 32A Bank Street Irvine, which they hope to re-open soon.

The planned new venture is on the site of a former popular Indian restaurant.

The owner said: “The premises have been in the family for 15 to 16 years and has been sold for eight or nine years and when the last owners left, the premises just shut down.

“We don’t know what happened to the licence but my husband and I have decided we want to get it re-opened again and we have had a couple of interested parties but then we discovered there was no licence so that is why we decided to ask for a provisional. 

“The two interested parties are only willing to take it on if there is a licence because a lot of money has to go into it in terms of refit and a refurbishment and money going into it.”

The owners also have a licenced premises in South Ayrshire which has been successfully open now for 20 years.

The proposed restaurant is on the first floor level of a former site of a restaurant, which has been unoccupied for several years, situated above shop premises within the town centre.

The opening hours will be from 11am until midnight seven days a week. There were no police objections to the proposals.

North Ayrshire Licensing Board agreed to grant the application of a provisional licence.