THERE are plans for a former bank to become a restaurant.

A planning application has been submitted to Northumberland County Council to convert the former Barclays bank in Ponteland into a restaurant.

A single storey extension to the rear of the building for the restaurant’s kitchen is also proposed.

The building has lain empty since Barclays moved out of the branch on Main Street in 2019.

According to plans submitted, the two-storey restaurant will have a private dining area.

There are also plans for an outdoor seating area with a dwarf wall, which would have six tables and would host a maximum of 24 guests.

Applicant Leon Kasaei also wishes to replace the windows at the front of the building and for there to be a new fire escape to the left of the building.

The Ponteland branch of Barclays bank closed in January 2019 after a drop in visitor numbers and counter transactions.

At the time, a spokeswoman from Barclays said: “At Barclays Ponteland branch, customer usage has decline by 14 per cent in the last two years, and many of our customers now regularly use alternative branches, which is why we have taken the difficult decision to close it."

For more details, visit the county council’s planning portal and search 21/02958/FUL