SHOPPERS and town centre leaders have welcomed the prospect of Cheltenham's first sushi bar opening soon.
Japanese food chain YO! Sushi plans to move into the premises in the Promenade occupied by Pizza Hut.
The Italian restaurant has confirmed it will be closing but has not said when it will shut its doors.
Bosses at YO! Sushi declined to comment on their intentions, following a planning application being submitted to the borough council.
London-based YO! Sushi World has applied for permission to change aspects of the premises. It wants to alter the front of shop by creating a new glass section and entrance door and adding stone cladding to the front columns.
The application also reveals the shop would see food being moved around the premises, in front of customers, on a conveyor belt.
Shoppers welcomed the likelihood of a sushi bar opening in Cheltenham.
Most said it would offer diners something different, although some said they would be sorry to see Pizza Hut go as they felt it represented good value for money.
Town centre manager Martin Quantock said: "If it's going to happen and Pizza Hut moves out and YO! Sushi moves in, it's really good news for the town that we won't have an empty unit in a very high profile part of town."
He said the sting in the tail was the prospect of Pizza Hut workers losing their jobs, unless they found alternative employment within the company or were taken on by YO! Sushi.
On Pizza Hut's decision to close the shop, he said: "Personally, I'm quite surprised.
"It always seems quite busy to me.
"That part of town is a very high profile area, more or less at the junction of Promenade and High Street.
"You've got the footfall plus the quality of the Promenade."
He said even more pedestrians would use the area in the future if traffic was banned.
A Pizza Hut spokeswoman said: "It's still in the very early stages, in terms of the plans for the restaurant."
She declined to comment on whether the Pizza Hut workers would lose their jobs, be offered work elsewhere or have a chance of working in the new YO! Sushi restaurant.
