A RESTAURANT which closed after being hit by floods could return to Bishopthorpe as part of a plan to rejuvenate the area.

York Marine, which operates a campsite and boat hire business from the site on Ferry Lane, is seeking an occupier for the 180-seater restaurant before building it.

The restaurant, which is marketed by Lewis Craig, is envisaged as the catalyst for progress on a wider project to create a marina in the area for between 300 and 500 boats.

Peter Mandy, owner of York Marine, said they had invested in the business, building a new toilet and office block for the campsite and new workshops for boat works, as well as preparing the foundations for the restaurant.

They were now hoping the eco-friendly riverside restaurant, which would have a grass roof and be raised above the 100-year flood plain, would attract an operator.

The previous restaurant, most recently a Chinese restaurant, closed down after the flooding of 2000, and during its history has also been an Italian eatery run by Silvano Scanu, of Silvano’s restaurants.

Mr Mandy said: “It needs a restaurant to bring it all together. It’s going to be a lovely restaurant. It will be mostly a destination for people from the city and the community to use. This restaurant has always done well.”

He said that the campsite would have a round Airstream “silver bullet” caravan serving food at the campsite while it looks for an operator for the restaurant.

York Marine also owns more than 30 acres of land next to the campsite. He said the business was in very early talks with the Environment Agency about developing it into a marina.

Plans to build a 39-berth marina and 12 holiday chalets on the existing campsite, attracted controversy in 2008. Mr Mandy said the log cabins had been the problem, but a marina was still a possibility.

The business hopes it could build a marina for between 300 and 500 boats on the land adjacent to the campsite, but he said the discussions were in the very early stages.