A NEW restaurant set to open in Wimborne has now applied to create a hotel on the first and second floors.

Loungers UK, which runs a chain of restaurant/bars across the country, has applied to Dorset Council for permission to create five ensuite bedrooms on floors one and two of the former TSB building, in The Square.

Last month (February), an application to change the use of the first and part of the second floor of the building from a bank to a restaurant was approved.

Now, the firm hopes to create the rooms – two on the first floor, three on the second.

It hopes permission will be granted to change the use of the floors to a hotel, in conjunction with the restaurant.

Current, the first floor comprises ‘offices, storage, staff rooms and toilets’, while the second floor is a ‘residential flat which can be accessed via a separate entrance’, the application says.

The scheme would see a ‘modest rearrangement’ of these floors to create the rooms.

“The proposals require the removal of some modern partitions and the erection of some

internal partitions as shown on the submitted plans to create the five ensuite bedrooms,” it said.

It added: “The building has been extensively altered internally given the previous use as a bank. The bank fit out has removed a lot of the previous historic fabric within the building, particularly the first floor.

“The second floor has been in use as a flat as accommodation for bank employees.”

There would be no alterations to the rear elevation and only minor changes to the front, it said.

For more details, and to comment on the plans, log on to www.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk and search for application reference P/FUL/2023/00861.