The company behind the Cosy Club brand has revealed the opening date for a new cafe bar at a former Debenhams store.

Loungers, which runs more than 200 sites across the UK, unveiled plans to move into the vacant site at Westwood Cross shopping centre, Broadstairs.

Riparo Lounge will be open for breakfast, brunch, lunch, dinner and drinks.

Bosses say particular attention will be paid to families with a selection of games, books, colouring pencils and pads on offer.

It has been revealed Riparo Lounge is set to open in February next year.

Gemma Irwin, community manager at Loungers, said: “We are so looking forward to opening the doors of Riparo Lounge next year.

“We hope our family-friendly environment and top-notch food and drink offering will prove popular with local residents.

“We are passionate about integrating genuinely into the communities we serve so we are looking forward to meeting everyone and to playing our part at the heart of Westwood Cross’ food and drink scene.

“Anyone looking for a space to host events or groups should pop in once we are open, we would love to hear from them and see what we can do to help.”

A planning application by Loungers UK Ltd was submitted to Thanet District Council this month to install new signage on the large retail unit.

Documents revealed the new eatery at the Margate Road site will be called Riparo Lounge.

Loungers plans to expand to more than 400 sites in England and Wales across two different brands: Lounge and Cosy Club.

Meanwhile, Hollywood Bowl, which has more than 70 centres across the UK, originally intended to open this autumn in the former Debenhams unit at the shopping centre.

But it was confirmed last week it has been delayed until summer next year.

It was revealed in 2021, the former Debenhams store at the outdoor shopping centre was to be transformed into a complex with restaurants, bars and leisure offerings.

The prominent site was home to the department store for 16 years, with Debenhams as a key tenant.

But the outlet closed two years ago after the retail giant fell into administration and was sold to online fashion brand Boohoo.

However, plans soon revealed the two-storey building would be reconfigured to create units for "food and beverage, and leisure offers".

Earlier last year it had been hoped that despite the closure of Debenhams stores across the country, the Broadstairs outlet could be spared, alongside Gravesend's.

But in January 2021 and after 243 years trading, Boohoo revealed it had no plans to keep any of the remaining Debenhams stores open.