A RESTAURANT has been put up for sale, after the owners could not make it fit around their lives.

Mint Leaf, Alexandra Road, Southend is on the market with the lease on offer for £49,950.

It offers customers a Chinese and Malaysian buffet, salad bar and fresh-cooked dishes from a grill.

The restaurant also comes with a six bedroom home above it.

Gerard Biagioni, commercial consultant for Dedman Gray estate agents said the owners could not make it work.

He said: “It used to be called East and we’ve had quite a bit of interest in the restaurant.

“It is a very substantial size and above it offers staff quarters with six bedrooms.

“It is good for this kind of business if the workers are not from this area.

“It can be difficult for a business like this to get staff as they need to live nearby.

“It makes the offering of jobs more attractive to those who are from out of the area.

“The accommodation is also good for security as people are on site if anything was to happen.

“I do not necessarily think it should reopen as a restaurant.

“It is difficult to say what it will be used for, it could be used for retail again.

“It is a really nice regular shaped building and is all open plan and it lends itself to a lot of uses.

“The owner is keen to sell and is more from a hotel background.

“They live in London and it has not worked out for the owner as they had hoped it would do.”

The building licence permits the sale of alcohol, for consumption on the premises, from 8am till midnight, Monday to Sunday inclusive.

It also allows for regulated entertainment in the form of recorded music.

The advert states: “Substantial restaurant premises, with covers for 150-170, and basement Banquet and Function room for another 80.

“In a total of approximately 6,700 sq.ft. together with staff accommodation at first floor level.

“It is proposed that the purchaser enters into a new lease with the landlords, for a period to be agreed, at a rent of £35,000 per annum. VAT is not payable on the rent.”