A NEW pie and mash restaurant is set to open in Southend town centre.

Change of use permission has been granted for 15 Clarence Street, Southend, which is currently listed for retail use.

Robins, an East End family chain of pie and mash restaurants, applied to Southend Council to turn the unit into a restaurant.

The authority gave the go-ahead for the premises, which is currently a temporary Christmas gift shop, to be turned into a restaurant.

Robins has six other restaurants in Basildon, Bethnal Green, East Ham, Ilford, Romford and Wanstead.

John Lamb, Southend councillor with responsibility for regeneration and enterprise, said: “It is another pie and mash establishment. We already have one or two in the town.

“But people do enjoy different types of food in Southend and it is good to have competition.

“Hopefully the new restaurant will do well and those businesses already here will continue to thrive.”

It is not known how many jobs the new business will create or the opening hours, but the council has given permission for the restaurant to trade between 7am and 11pm, seven days a week.