A GLASS-fronted restaurant that stood empty for 10 years is set to create 50 jobs when it opens for business on Friday.

Michelin-starred chef Kevin Viner has taken over the rotunda extension to the Hermitage Hotel to launch Neo, which boasts views over Bournemouth pier.

Mr Viner, who made his name in Cornwall, is the executive chef at the Bournemouth site - which was his first choice of location when he first began cooking over 20 years ago.

For seven years, between 1993 and 2000, his restaurant Pennypots in Blackwater in Cornwall, had a Michelin star.

He said: “I always loved Bournemouth and came here on holiday as a child, so when I decided to move into the restaurant business in 1989 it was the first place I looked.

“Unfortunately there was nothing available at the time so I went to Cornwall only intending to stay there for three or four years and ended up staying for 20.

“Now I am incredibly excited to be executive chef of a stand-alone restaurant in Bournemouth, which I’m confident will develop a fine reputation and become a culinary destination."