A NATIONAL bar and restaurant chain is getting ready to open up in a vacant building on Little Stonegate.

Gusto is preparing to move into 2 - 4 Little Stonegate, a unit formerly occupied by long-standing York business Mulberry Hall.

The company has made a licensing application to the City of York Council, asking for permission to sell alcohol, stay open for late night refreshment, and have both live and recorded music.

Documents show the licenses, if granted, would run from 10am to midnight on weekdays, and until 1am on Friday and Saturday nights, for the sale of alcohol. The chain already has 15 restaurants across the country, and website says it serves a "classic and contemporary Italian menu" in venues inspired by the traditional grand cafes of Europe.

The building abuts 15 Stonegate, where cocktail bar and restaurant The Botanist is also getting ready to open. The two brands are owned by the same parent company, and the license applications for both show they applied for permission to start operating as early as April 27. The Botanist's license application is also asking for 10am to midnight opening on weekdays, and until 1am on Friday and Saturday nights.

Last week the German Christmas retailer Käthe Wohlfahrt confirmed they were moving into the timber framed building at 15-17 Stonegate, which was also occupied by Mulberry Hall.

An opening date for the Christmas shop has been set for July.

Meanwhile a guesthouse in Fulford looks set to be converted into ten small flats, despite protests from the neighbours.

Developers want to convert 71 and 73 Fulford Road, currently Saxon House guesthouse, into ten self-contained dwellings.

A planning application is due to be decided by City of York Council on Thursday, and officials have already given it their backing despite objections from many of the neighbours.

People who live in Ellwood Court, next door to Saxon House, have written to the city's planning department about their concerns over noise and disturbance they fear will grow with the new flats, disruption during the construction work, and parking problems.

However, a written report by planning officers says there is "no evidence" that changing the guesthouse into flats will harm the neighbours' amenity, or will pose a road safety risk.

It also says that the flats would be in the same situation as the guesthouses regarding access to a rear courtyard, meaning those worries are not reason enough to reject the scheme.

It adds: "If there were no car parking, there would not be grounds for refusal as the site is within a sustainable location and the type of dwellings proposed would not necessarily require its own parking."