A restaurant where bosses say they are regularly forced into turning customers away are now “very, very excited” to be expanding into a former DIY shop.

Plans have been given the go-ahead for French bistro Birdies in Harbour Street, Whitstable to construct a bar and an outdoor seating area.

Philip and Sue Colthup say the new seating and garden area - which will be on the site of the former Harry & Co hardware store next to their eatery - will help them meet diner demand.

The pair, who have run the business for 30 years, say they have regularly been forced to tell punters they do not have enough tables to serve them.

Son Rhys Colthup, who helps his parents to run the business, told KentOnline: “We’re all very, very excited. It is something the restaurant has desperately needed, every summer we find ourselves turning customers away because we just don’t have the space.

“It is just nothing but good news for the business. We’re not going to put too much on our plate, we’re not changing everything.

“We are putting in a bar where customers who just want a glass of wine and a nibble can sit, but we’re not changing the food.”

The work to transform the eatery is already in progress following the approval of the application on Tuesday.

Firstly, the interior wall separating the old premises and the brand new zone has been knocked through and a false wall put up in its place.

This is to allow the restaurant to keep trading while the works are in progress.

Mr Colthup estimates they are already a quarter of the way there and hopes the works will be complete by mid-August.

He expects the new and improved establishment will be ready to open by early September at the latest.

The works include installing the new bar, constructing the outside seating area and putting up an extension to the rear of the former DIY store to house a disabled toilet.

In the council report recommending the plans be approved, the officer said the proposal would add “vitality” to the local area.

They said: “The proposed use would be considered to add to vitality and viability of Whitstable Town Centre and given the mix of uses within the area, it is not considered that the use would create an over-concentration in the vicinity in this case.

“Furthermore, the change of use to a restaurant is not considered to comprise the site’s designation as a shopping frontage given that the ground floor is to remain as commercial.”