The first phase of a landmark’s planned £100 million revamp is set to open to the public.

A new cafe and welcome centre at The Citadel in Dover, a closed-off 18th century fort, is expected to open within weeks.

Planning permission has been granted for the new venue, which is just outside the vast complex’s entrance.

The small building was originally an inmates’ visitor’s centre when the fort was a prison.

This latest move is part of the continuing redevelopment of The Citadel, at Dover Western Heights, as an ambitious business and tourism site.

David de Min, chief executive of site owners Dover Citadel Ltd, said: “This is another step in the right direction and it will help showcase the other plans we have for the site.

“At the moment, the opening dates are June 17 for a soft launch and June 29 for a main launch. We want time to make sure everything is running smoothly.”

The new venue is for both people working inside the complex and members of the public.

At this time of year, the surrounding hill area is mostly visited by ramblers and dog walkers.

It will be called the Citadel Welcome Centre Cafe and will provide 98 car parking spaces and will be open from 9am to 5.30pm seven days a week.

Couple Gavin Topley and Emma Taylor will manage the cafe after successfully running the Remskeys sweet shop in Tower Hamlets Road, Dover since 2020.

That shop closed last Friday to allow for their move but they will continue providing catering for events such as weddings and also the Dover Regatta next month.

Ms Taylor said: “We are very excited about moving on to this new venture. We had wanted to expand our business and run a cafe.”

The cafe planning application was submitted on March 19 this year and granted full planning permission by Dover District Council last Wednesday (May 29).

Organisations such as the civic group the Dover Society raised no objection, saying this only involved minor changes to a relatively modern building.

Broader long-term plans for the complex, estimated to cost £100 million, include hotels, restaurants, art galleries and music studios.

One hotel would be in the giant officers’ quarters building and other plans include using the site as a wedding venue and for running guided tours.

The complex is to be dubbed The Little City.

The Citadel has regularly been used for filming, such as for the Danny Boyle film Pistol in 2021, about punk legends the Sex Pistols.

Just over a week ago hundreds of crew and extras were there for three days for the filming of a TV series about the Indian civil rights legend Mahatma Gandhi.

Its cast includes Harry Potter actor Tom Felton who played the boy wizard’s school rival Draco Malfoy in the film series.

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The Citadel and the wider Western Heights were used as a fortification during the Napoleonic Wars and both world wars.

The prison service took over the complex from the military in 1952.

It first became an adult jail and from 1957 a borstal, in later years remodelled as a Young Offenders’ Institution.

Overall the maximum capacity for inmates was 850.

From April 2002 to November 2015 it was Dover Immigration Removal Centre, still run by HM Prison Service.

It housed about 600 adults appealing for official asylum seeker status - or awaiting to be deported.