A POPULAR bar and restaurant will open its fourth venue at the site of a former restaurant in Bournemouth town centre next month.

The Dancing Moose, which already has premises in Ashley Cross, Wimborne and Penn Hill, will open inside the former La Tasca restaurant on Bourne Avenue.

Spanish tapas restaurant and bar La Tasca closed its doors for good on Sunday, January 28.

Bournemouth’s Dancing Moose is due to open in the middle of March.

Steve Madden, operations manager, said: “This year the Dancing Moose brand will be four years old and, ironically, this year we will be opening our fourth site.

“The Dancing Moose concept was created by ‘Mr Bournemouth himself’ James Bronson.

“James passed away nearly two years ago now, but his nephew Charlie Bronson and the team are bringing him back to his old stomping ground.”

The new bar will create dozens of jobs and work on launching the new venue has been taking place since last summer.

Steve said: “We estimate Bournemouth will need a staff of about 45 altogether which takes us to over 100 employees company wide.”

He said the new Dancing Moose would “follow in the footsteps of the original gastrobar brand at Ashley Cross and Wimborne. “

He added: “The Bournemouth site will have its own atmosphere, character and charm.

“We will once again evolve our brand to suit this new location. When launching a new site we always try to upcycle as much as possible using materials and furniture we’ve acquired from previous acquisitions; whilst giving the venue a distinctive Dancing Moose feel.”

There had been speculation on social media that the new fourth venue would be opening in Broadstone.

Steve said: “Sadly the Broadstone rumours aren’t true - but you never know in this game, we’re getting offered sites thick and fast now due to the recent success of our expansion. Christchurch and Southbourne do still remain areas of interest to us, along with Ringwood and even as far as Winchester.”

There are also plans to roll out more venues based on sister restaurant, The Eatery, in Penn Hill.

The Dancing Moose Bournemouth will operate between 9am until midnight, seven days a week, serving breakfast, lunch and dinner.