A COLNE firm has landed the contract for the £3million revamp of an iconic site in Blackpool.

RECO Build, in Albert Road, will start work next week on a 26,000 sq ft leisure and retail project on the site of the burnt-down and now-demolished former Yates’s Wine Lodge, opposite the North Pier.

Yates’s was gutted by fire in February 2009 and the conservation area site on one edge of Talbot Square has been considered an eyesore ever since.

Nick Richardson, RECO Build managing director, said: “This is an exciting job for RECO Build as the history behind the landmark and the prominence of the site boosts our profile and takes us closer to our goal of becoming a major player in the national construction industry.

The plans are for two restaurants and one retail unit at the new three-storey building.

Cosmo, the Pan Asian banquet chain, has signed a lease for the entire first floor and supermarket giant Tesco is lined up to let the retail space for one its Express stores. TGI Friday’s, the New York-style restaurant-bar, has also shown interest.

The project has been designed in a modern art-deco style that reflects the heritage of the landmark. It includes a clock in an ornate white-stone tower and a featured iron balcony.

Coun Fred Jackson, Blackpool Council’s deputy leader, said: “The site will bring more people into town while works takes place and, once completed, will revitalise the town centre."

The 40-week building timeframe means the restaurants and retail units on the new iconic site should be up and running for the Blackpool Illuminations in autumn 2014.