Dudley business park restaurants get go-ahead

More than 80 jobs will be created by the scheme which will see a Hungry Horse pub, a Costa Coffee cafe and a KFC restaurant built on vacant land by the existing Premier Inn hotel.

A fourth unit will also be constructed on the site, off Castlegate Drive, with developers hoping to attract another restaurant to the complex.

Planning permission has now been approved by Dudley Council paving the way for work to begin on the project.

Officers said the scheme would see redevelopment of a long-standing vacant site and create a 'substantial' number of jobs.

They added it would boost the regeneration of Dudley and help increase the amenities on offer for visitors and residents.

The borough's regeneration boss Councillor Khurshid Ahmed has backed the plans, saying: "We are supportive of any scheme which complements the exciting and innovative developments we have already put in place or are on the drawing board in Dudley town centre including very light rail, the new market place and the expansion of Dudley College."

The plans, which have been submitted to Dudley Council by Dominic Stokes from Stoford Properties Ltd say the project will create around 80 full-time equivalent jobs.

The Hungry Horse pub, run by Greene King, will alone employ up to 20 full-time and 40 part-time workers – with bosses pledging to recruit from the local area.

The Castlegate Business Park is already home to restaurants including Frankie and Benny's and Pizza Hut as well as a Showcase Cinema.

It is the latest regeneration scheme to be unveiled in recent months in Dudley.

Plans for the ambitious £50m Porters Field project with a supermarket, shops and cafe are also being drawn up.

Avenbury Developments is undertaking the scheme, which would bring 500 jobs to the town and will see eyesore office block Cavendish House demolished to make way for a modern store and a stylish public piazza.