AMERICAN fastfood giant McDonalds is building a drive through restaurant in Runcorn Old Town, it was announced this week.

Plans for the food outlet - which form a key part of the multi-million pound redevelopment of the town centre - were approved this week by Halton councillors.

The company has agreed to incorporate an open piazza into its design and amend their usual style of building to fit in with the proposed traditional developments in the area.

"External materials, masonry colour and detailing to the McDonalds unit will also be the same as that on all other buildings in the central area redevelopment," members of the development, controling and licensing committee were told on Monday evening.

"The same floor setts are to be run continuously across the site and adjoining area to create a visual whole."

McDonalds will be built on the site currently occpied by a taxi rank and former bus station in High Street.

Halton Council is now waiting for the green light to go out to tender for contractors to start the next stage of the Single Regeneration Budget (SRB) project.

Work was delayed following the discovery of bodies buried in an underground vault beneath a former churchyard. Various problems with service pipes caused further disruption.

Councillors are now confident the long-awaited scheme will soon be taking shape, following the recent approval of a multi-million arts centre lottery grant.

German cutprice food retailer Lidl is understood to be one of the proposed new town centre stores.

Converted for the new archive on 13 March 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.