Plans for kerbside dining in Hereford

There are plans to open a new restaurant on the old site of ASK Italian in Hereford which would offer an outdoor seating.

Micro Urbanicity has applied to Herefordshire Council for permission to serve food and drink to people sitting at tables placed along the pavement.

The Broad Street premises will have permission to open from 8am until 11.30pm Monday to Sunday if the licence is approved.

“We propose a pizza restaurant serving mainly pizza, salads and sides for lunch and dinner as well as cocktails, wine and beer,” the application says.

“In front of the premises is a wide pavement and on street parking, which has been re-aligned in order to widen the pavement by a further two metres or so.

“I believe this to be a Covid-19 related layout change.

“We would like to apply for kerbside seating so this application will include off-supplies of alcohol so guests can drink while sitting on the tables provided on the sidewalk.”

The public consultation for these plans ends today (October 15).

All ASK Italian restaurants in the UK were closed indefinitely in March due to new rules regarding the national lockdown which aimed to reduce the spread of Covid-19.

In July, Azzuri Group, the owner of ASK Italian and Zizzi pizza chains, said it would not reopen around 75 of its restaurants following the pandemic, resulting in the loss of up to 1,200 jobs.

The restaurant in Broad Street was one of those affected.