PORTLAND harbour bar and diner, Billy Winters, is hoping to expand.

The business, just off the Ferrybridge, is asking Dorset council to allow a bigger building with a first-floor addition.

The proposals, currently before Dorset Council for consideration, will continue the shipping container theme which the premises used when it was first approved.

Application papers say the business has continued to flourish over two years and now wants to increase the space to cope with growing demand.

“Billy Winters is an inviting place for both young and old, even as a warm retreat during the cold winter months,” said one of the documents submitted as part of the application process.

The business says it wants to add another bar area and is keen to improve the toilets, along with disabled access, through the new proposals.

The application says the existing diner building will be retained but covered in reclaimed timber cladding with the proposed additions made of eight shipping containers consisting of varying sizes, some cut down to fit the site.

A proposed terrace at first floor level is to be constructed in steel framework enabling this is also to be fabricated offsite and then installed with minimal disruption to the existing building.

Agents say the use of the shipping containers, reclaimed timber and quarry waste stone will all be used to create an extension which “responds to the site’s context, landscape, environment, access and viability to produce a scheme that is not intended as back ground architecture, but as a hub for an increasingly popular venue to enjoyed by all.”

The current planning consent is limited to two years and the business is asking that this be extended to a minimum of ten years from the completion of the expansion.

The proposal is not asking for any increase in the ten parking spaces which are allocated to the diner in the shared car park.

The opening hours in the application are listed as being 8am to 6pm across the whole week.

Public comments can be made on the proposals until October 4th.