A PIZZA shop that became an institution for those enjoying a night out has reopened.

Caesar’s Pizza Palace, on Northgate in Blackburn, closed its doors at the end of December, much to the dismay of regulars and pizza lovers from across the town.

Citing high rental costs as one of the reason’s for shutting up shop, Saeed Khattir, who had run the takeaway for almost 30 years, said he was sad to close after serving the town for so long, but said he would consider looking for new a new location.

Almost a year on and Mr Khattir has relocated to a new premises on Feilden Street, and opened his doors once again on September 12.

He said: “The support has been fantastic since I reopened.

"People have been phoning up saying ‘are you the real Caesar? Is this really you?’ and I’ve had to say ‘yes of course it is’.

“They weren’t expecting me to be open, it was great.

“Since I closed the shop, many people were telling me I needed to reopen again.

“I looked at a few places in the town but there wasn’t anything suitable and I wanted to stay here, and then this place became available and I put an offer in for it.

“Everyone is pleased to see me back open, and Facebook has gone crazy.

“I posted something saying I was back open and within one hour people are tagging each other and I was like, what is happening?”

The new shop, which is located close to the new cinema site, has all the features of the old shop, including the thank you notes, notes of appreciation and even the old menu sign.

Mr Khattir said: “I’m very happy to be back.

"I’ve missed my customers so much.

“They come in and chat and it makes you enjoy your work so much more.”

Caesar’s Pizza Palace is situated at 9 Feilden Street.

For orders, call 01254 692500.