It’ll be Lancashire’s first Five Guys restaurant

Lancashire’s first Five Guys restaurant is coming to Preston after plans were given the green light.

Officials at Preston City Council have this month approved changes to the former Frankie and Benny’s restaurant on Deepdale Retail Park, with the closed down Italian eatery turning into the burger chain.

Five Guys applied to the council to get approval for new signage on the building replacing the Frankie and Benny’s advertisements.

A report from council planning officers says: “The application relates to Unit FC4, which sits centrally within the Deepdale Retail Park, off Blackpool Road and to the east of Preston City Centre. The unit was previously occupied by Frankie & Bennies Restaurant, and is now vacant, with the current application relating to its change to Five Guys JV Ltd, trading under the same Class E use.

“The unit sits adjacent to car parking for the wider retail park comprising of, Pizza Hut and McDonald’s restaurants, and a parade of smaller retail units. The site is predominantly commercial in nature with no sensitive uses, such as residential development within the immediate vicinity or overlooking the site.”

Lancashire County Council said that none of the external lighting should be intermittent or flashing so as not to dazzle motorists.

It adds: “Subject to the recommended condition, the proposed advertisement would not have a detrimental impact on amenity and public safety and is therefore considered acceptable.”

Five Guys, which originated in Virginia in the US in 1986 and now has more than a 1,000 venues worldwide including 113 and counting in the UK, currently has a number of restaurants in the neighbouring Greater Manchester, Yorkshire and Liverpool regions but none in Lancashire or Cumbria.

• 08:30, 14 JUN 2022