PLANS for a new restaurant and bar in Southampton are set to be rejected.

A proposal to turn the former Prezzo Italian Restaurant unit in Oxford Street into a bar and restaurant was put forward by Dr Serkan Celyan earlier this year. 

The plans were to create a restaurant on the first floor of the building and a bar on the ground floor.

Dr Celyan was also seeking approval for the restaurant to open between 4pm and 11.30pm and for the bar to open from 4pm to 2am, both seven days a week.

The application was welcomed by local councillors who said to be glad to see a new proposal for this site which has been empty since last year, when the Italian restaurant was shut.

Bargate councillor Sarah Bogle said if managed the new restaurant and bar could be a “positive development which supports the vitality of Oxford Street”.

But the scheme is set to be refused at a meeting of the Planning and Right of Way Panel set to take place at the Civic Centre in Southampton on Tuesday.

In a document published ahead of the meeting, planning bosses said: “It is considered that the intensification of use into the early hours of the morning would cause further detriment to the amenities of neighbouring properties by reason of noise, litter and disturbance caused as patrons leave the premises.

“The proposal  would set a difficult precedent for further trading that could lead to additional premises trading after midnight in an area with evidenced problems of late night disturbance.”