A POPULAR restaurant once famously visited by Mike Ashley, Rafa Benitez and the Newcastle United football team is bidding for a major expansion.

Rialto’s, in Ponteland, hosted the Premier League squad and club bosses for a ‘bonding’ meal in 2018.

According to an application submitted to Northumberland County Council, the venue, in Main Street, is seeking permission to begin serving food and drink in an outdoor area at the back of the main restaurant.

Documents lodged with the local authority’s licensing department said: “The internal area shall continue to trade in the style of a restaurant.

“The external area shall provide facilities for the consumption of alcohol, entertainment and food.”

Plans included in the submission show the new outdoor area, bordered on its east and south edges by the River Pont, would be largely taken up with a seating area, with food stalls along the northern edge and three areas marked ‘servery’.

If approved in its current form, the licence would allow:

Live music until 8.30pm Monday – Thursday and 9.30pm Friday – Sunday and bank holidays

Alcohol to be served until 10.30pm Sunday – Thursday and till 11pm Friday and Saturday

Opening hours to run 11am – 11pm Sunday – Thursday and till 11.30pm Friday and Saturday

When contacted, Rialto’s declined to comment on the application while it is still being considered by the county council.

Full details of the application can be found at www.northumberland.gov.uk – any comments on the proposals must be submitted to the county council by Thursday, July 15.