A POPULAR Indian restaurant which closed its doors suddenly more than a year ago has finally re-opened – much to the delight of customers.

Customers were shocked when the Wheelers Tandoori restaurant shut almost 18 months ago and many feared it was the end of the long-standing business.

However, owner Milad Admed has now reopened the restaurant and is once again welcoming customers through the doors of the popular restaurant on Bread and Cheese Hill in Benfleet.

The restaurant owner has revealed he initially “took some time away” from the business before investing in a refurbishment at the “ageing building”.

Mr Ahmed has twenty years experience running the business and has been pleased to see “many old faces” returning since he re-opened in recent days.

Echo: Refurbishments - The new refurbished barRefurbishments - The new refurbished bar (Image: Milad Ahmed)

Mr Ahmed said: “We have had a revamp and a major refurbishment, we tried really hard because it has been so tough for restaurants and the everyday cost of living is very expensive.

“Goods have been hard to get at their old price and it has been a battle trying to get customers back.

“People have moved on or people have started going to different restaurants.

“But against all odds, when I opened the restaurant again, people started coming back and old faces started appearing again.”

Mr Ahmed added that the refurbishment followed his decision to change career to become a taxi driver, though circumstance pulled him back into the business where he was given permission to spend more money on modernising and enhancing the restaurant.

The restaurant has expanded its offering of dishes, with tandoori grill, masala dished, Persian and Balti alongside fusion offers such as Indian pizza.

Mr Ahmed added: “It is surprising after one and a half years, but it has been massively encouraging to see new faces.

“I put my heart into cooking all the food and it was so nice to get a five-star hygiene rating recently.”