A PIZZA restaurant is opening at a former shop in Poole High Street.

Dorset-based company, Baffi, will be opening at the former clothes store In Tide, which is in the Old Town area of Poole.

Baffi, which has restaurants in Southbourne, Westbourne, Canford Cliffs, and Ringwood, applied to Poole council for a premises licence recently.

The site where Baffi will open was originally set to become a micropub.

In December 2016, the council approved the change of use for the 16th century townhouse, which is situated in the Old Town Conservation Area.

However, the applicant did not proceed with the plans.

Tom Ellis, co-founder and director of Baffi, said he looked forward to opening another branch of the restaurant.

It is due to open in June. Work is yet to be completed at the site.

“Baffi has been well-received across our four sites in Dorset and Hampshire over the past couple of years, and we have built a loyal customer base.

“Baffi is keen to expand into similar areas. Building work is currently under way at our fifth site in Portswood, Hampshire, and we anticipate opening the doors to the public in approximately seven weeks.”

He added: “Poole High Street in the Old Town is next on the list, and we’re excited to be joining such a diverse and vibrant restaurant community towards the end of June.”

Baffi serves Neapolitan style pizzas, which are cooked for no longer than 90 seconds in wood fired ovens.

One of the main features of its pizzas, the restaurant says, is that they have more sauce than cheese, making them soft and ‘soupy’ in the middle.

Plans to build flats and a restaurant opposite the site of the micropub were submitted to the council last month.

If approved the building, formerly occupied by fruiterer and greengrocer F Dibbens & Sons, would be demolished and replaced with 38 flats and a restaurant.