The restaurant and takeaway trade in Workington is on an upward spiral as work on West Cumbria’s first KFC moves a step forward and plans are lodged for another new food outlet.

KFC is ploughing through a number of planning hurdles it needs to clear before building work can begin on its new venture on the outskirts of town.

Meanwhile, bosses at Washington Square shopping centre have lodged new plans for a restaurant and takeaway in the empty Edinburgh Woollen Mill unit on Ivison Lane.

The move suggests the town keeping up with national trends as new data has revealed the number of new cafes, fast food outlets and restaurants opening has shot up across the UK.

Those in charge of the shopping centre say exciting times are ahead as 98 per cent of the units are now filled with shops and eateries.

The latest plans, lodged with Allerdale council, come two months after Dave Fletcher, the shopping centre’s development manager, said the owners were in talks with two or three chains interested in moving into the premises.

However, he said yesterday that at the moment no company was earmarked to move into the empty unit, but he was confident, once planning permission was in place, business could be attracted.

Nando’s has been rumoured to be among those interested in coming to the town.

The chain previously said it had no plans to open in Workington, but did not confirm whether it was a target location.

Bosses at SSSA Planning, working on behalf of QFM Group, a franchisee of KFC, were unable to give a date for building work to start.