ITALIAN restaurant Prezzo is planning on opening in Penarth town centre in under two months time.

More than £600,000 is set to be invested in renovating the former Spar store on Windsor Road, with builders hoping the grand opening will take place on Thursday, March 12.

Boarding has recently been erected around the building on Windsor Road as work begins to transform the former retail store into a plush Italian restaurant.

The restaurant will be spread over two floors, with space for 118 diners in the main restaurant and 20 diners in a new patio garden at the rear.

Dining in the main restaurant will be spread across the ground and first floor, with a glass spiral staircase linking the two together.

The development is also set to create around 18 jobs.

Prezzo chief executive Jonathan Kaye said: “We are looking forward to opening our new restaurant in Penarth and are confident that it will be an asset to the town’s social scene.”

Plans for the building were thrown into doubt last year when a planning officer from the Vale Council said he was “mindful to refuse” the planning application for change of use from retail (class A1) to restaurant (class A3).

He had raised concerns about the number of restaurants and charity shops in the town, saying that it showed “initial signs of decline” in the town centre.

Penarth councillor Lis Burnett also called in the application to the Vale Council’s planning committee and recommended that Prezzo move into the former Blockbuster premises on Hickman Road instead.

But the Vale Council eventually approved the planning application, saying that the application could provide economic benefits and employment to the town centre, and would result in a vacant unit being occupied and jobs being created.

Penarth councillors had also given their backing to the proposals, saying that the town centre could become a "Mecca for discerning diners and tourists”.