The high-quality coffee shop and bistro at the centre of a £34million town centre redevelopment this weekend started opening on Friday and Saturday nights for dinner.

Café Northcote in Blackburn’s Cathedral Quarter opened in the evening for meals for the first time yesterday.

The venue joins A Mano, Turtle Bay and the Premier Inn’s Thyme Restaurant in offering food, wine and other drinks for weekend diners in the Cathedral Square near the railway station.

The new opening hours fulfil the promise made by Northcote Leisure Group bosses Nigel Haworth and Craig Bancroft when the spin-off venture to their Michelin-starred restaurant and hotel in Langho opened in June last year.

Recently awarded Lancashire Life Café/Tearoom of the Year 2017 the cafe has so far only opened in the evenings for special events.

Its Northcote-trained chefs Meghan Banks and David Lyon have devised menus which change each evening with an enhanced wine list, children’s menu and three-course option priced at under £20.

It hopes to attract customers going to King George’s Hall for events ,heading to the cinema or starting a night out in Blackburn.

Claire Arnold, Café Northcote’s operations director said: “Our customers have been asking us for a while when we were going to open in the evening, so we’re delighted to now offer what our customers want.

“We were one of the first businesses to open in the Cathedral Quarter and have seen it develop over the last 18 months into a thriving part of town, with offices and eateries moving into the area and look forward to welcoming more people to join us on the evenings.”

Cllr Phil Riley, Blackburn with Darwen Council’s regeneration boss, said: “This is great news.

“Cafe Northcote has proved very popular with its evening events and this is a sign of its success.

“It is a further step in making Cathedral Square a real destination for diners.”

Café Northcote is now open from 5.30pm on Friday and Saturday evenings in addition to its existing opening hours.

The evening menus change each week and are £12.50 for one course, £16.50 for two courses and three courses are £19.50.

The next special event is an evening with the Choral Scholars from Blackburn Cathedral on Saturday November 25.