BLACKBURN'S historic Blakey Moor and Northgate is earmarked as a 'restaurant quarter' under a £3million plus Heritage Lottery cash bid.

Under the scheme, key Victorian buildings will be made over to attract cafes, coffee houses and eateries, including national chains, to create a visitor honeypot.

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Central to the five-year project to restore the 19th-century heart of the town centre is a complete renovation of Blakey Moor Terrace and the former Baroque pub to host two major restaurants kick-starting the regeneration and Blackburn's nightlife.

The proposal, welcomed by chamber of trade president Tony Duckworth and council Tory group leader Mike Lee, puts flesh on the bones of the borough's 2013 ambition to bring five major new eating places to the town centre.

The Premier Inn in the £34 million Cathedral Quarter development has opened its 'Thyme Restaurant' and the refectory in the new Clergy Court will open to the public later this year.

Nando's will open in the Vue cinema complex this summer and negotiations are almost complete for a cafe/dessert bar on the ground floor of the One Cathedral Square office block.

Details of this months's bid for £1.5 million of lottery money matched by £1.5 million of council cash supplemented by private finding will be outlined to the borough's ruling executive board tonight (THURS).

The scheme would fully restore Blakey Moor Terrace and Baroque pub premises, give King George’s Hall a facelift and refurbish 20 shop frontages along Northgate and Lord Street West.

Borough regeneration boss Phil Riley said: "This historic area is potentially attractive to restaurants, cafes and coffee houses .

"It would seem optimal for the 'The Townscape Heritage Project' to nurture a restaurant quarter using Blakey Moor Terrace and the former Baroque building as a focal point with two large restaurants.

"With the Thyme restaurant already and the Clergy Court refectory, Nando's, and the new office block cafe/dessert bar in the pipeline, we hope to attract major national chains to revive Blackburn's nightlife."

Mr Duckworth said: "This is good news for an important area which will hopefully spill over into reviving the town's nightlife."

Cllr Lee said: "This will hopefully revive a historic part of town and bring it back to life in the evenings."