JAPANESE restaurant chain Yo! Sushi has applied for planning permission to open a restaurant in York city centre.

The restaurant is proposed for the former Ponden Mill shop, at 15 to 17 Church Street, and the chain’s agent has applied for permission to change the use of the building from retail to restaurant use.

The planning document, prepared for the company by Pegasus Planning Group, states there are a high proportion of vacant units in the vicinity, and that the restaurant would fit in well among the neighbouring retailers.

It said Yo! Sushi was a “unique dining concept” that has been operating for more than 15 years, providing an efficient and healthy stop for time-pressed diners.

Its restaurants have a high turnover of customers, especially at lunchtime, with the majority of customers staying only 20 to 30 minutes, as well as there being a takeaway option.

The report said: “Each Yo! Sushi site tries to promote a vibrant and unique restaurant in terms of appearance by manipulating colours and graphics to ensure that no two restaurants are the same.

“The vibrancy of the brand also relates extremely well to fashion, meaning that it trades very strongly in locations where it sits side by side with fashion brands.

“Due to the nature of the business and the quick turnover of customers, Yo! Sushi trades extremely well in high profile, high footfall retail locations, providing a complementary use that contributes to the vitality and viability of the area.”

The Yo! Sushi chain began operating in 1997. Its restaurants use the Japanese style “kaiten” conveyor belt method where food is prepared in a kitchen in plain view of customers and then sent out on the thin conveyor belt.

The belt carries food around the restaurant in a circuit, and diners select their choice.

The chain currently has branches at the Meadowhall shopping centre in Sheffield and in Leeds.

Yo! Sushi declined to comment on any plans until a decision was made.