A fast food franchise is set to open in a former high street bank.

Plans to convert the former TSB in Maidstone High Street into a Pepe’s Piri Piri restaurant have been approved.

An application to convert the ground floor into a 46-seat restaurant and takeaway were submitted in Autumn of last year.

The basement will be used for storage and staff toilets and changing space.

Maidstone Borough Council has now given the fast food chain the green light.

Find out about planning applications that affect you at the Public Notice Portal.

In the papers, Pepe’s is not explicitly stated as the restaurant, but designs indicate so.

A sign of the chain is set to be placed where the old TSB hanging logo once sat.

The unit had been vacant since the bank closed in May 2022.

The closure was a result of TSB shutting down a number of its branches following the pandemic.

Customer habits changed as people turned to online banking during lockdown, leading to reduced footfall when stores opened after.

Pepe’s is a piri-piri chicken franchise with 187 stores nationwide.

Its menu features wraps, burgers, wings, and chicken and rice boxes.

There is currently one branch in Kent, in Camden Road, Tunbridge Wells.

The Maidstone restaurant will be the second in the county. An opening date is not yet known.