HUGELY popular Neapolitan pizza restaurant Rudy's is set to open a branch in Stockton Heath.

Launched in 2015 by couple Jim Morgan and Kate Wilson, the award-winning Manchester business was at the forefront of the Ancoats food and drink boom, and quickly gained cult status among pizza fans.

Rudy's is renowned for following the traditions of Naples – the birthplace of pizza – with each pizza stone baked to perfection with a puffed up crust, made from 24-hour double fermented dough.

Its popularity has seen the number of restaurants in the north west grow to four and Stockton Heath will be the fifth.

Warrington Guardian:

Planning documents – with permission approved by Warrington Borough – reveal that Rudy's will be opening in the former Barclays unit in Church Farm Shopping Precinct, Walton Road.

The only changes to the existing structure of the two-storey building is an extension to create a lobby area and disabled toilet.

The borough council gave consent for the unit's change of use from a bank to a restaurant in February 2020.

The planning application was submitted after Barclays closed in June 2019 from a lack of customers.

Proposals indicate that the restaurant will seat around 50 people and include a downstairs kitchen.

In 2019, Rudy's was ranked 10th in a chart of the ‘Top fifty best pizzas in the world’ compiled by global travel and food website Big Seven.

There is no timeframe yet in place for when Rudy's Stockton Heath will open, especially given the current situation with the pandemic.