THE owners of Solita said work will start on a new "super-restaurant' in Prestwich next week.

The brand, run by Bolton restaurateurs Francesco Sotgiu and Simon Pogson, will take over the Bombay Indian restaurant, on the corner of Bury New Road and Church Lane, as well as the former Aumbry fine dining eaterie.

They have been looking for a site in North Manchester for 18 months and, when one became available, they struck a deal with the landlord who owns both buildings.

The new burger and grill restaurant is due to open at the end of May.

Mr Sotgiu, who lives on the border of Bolton and Whitefield, said: "We will be doing preliminary work next week.

"We are going to totally gut both sites and, until we get everything back to the bare bones, we won't know what the design is going to be like.

"The plan is to get rid of all the partition walls to make this big, super-restaurant.

"You will be able to tell it's a Solita, we have got an identity all the way through but this will have its own theme."

Customers can expect a decor of exposed brick with industrial lighting but with an injection of colour, al fresco dining and areas for private parties.

The first branch of the popular restaurant opened in Manchester's Northern Quarter in July 2012, followed by Didsbury in September last year.

The team is now looking forward to welcoming diners from Prestwich, Whitefield, Bury, Radcliffe, Bolton and the surrounding areas.

Mr Sotgiu said: "We are seen as a sexy brand, even though I'm not particularly sexy.

"We've not had a negative comment about the news.

"Twenty businesses have sent us messages all saying welcome to Prestwich.

"We have had a really good welcome.

"It's our biggest investment to date."

Award-winning Aumbry originally shut for refurbishment in August and, in recent days, Prestwich chef Mary-Ellen McTague took the decision to close it for good when an agreement could not be reached over a new lease with the building’s owners.

She will open a new restaurant in Manchester city centre in the spring.

Mr Sotgiu said he would have liked Aumbry to remain in Prestwich but it was a "dream" to acquire the restaurant and extra space.

A central kitchen, butchery and meat maturing room will be built on site, where a full time butcher will be employed to prepare steaks, burgers and other grill items for all three Solitas.

He added: "The unexpected option to deal on the Aumbry site too has been a welcome bonus.

"Aumbry has a special place for me as it’s where my wife and I had our wedding breakfast — in fact, we were the first couple to do so there."

He also revealed they would be opening a fourth site later this year, which will not be a Solita restaurant.

He said: "We can't really say what the concept is but it's very different to Solita.

"We don't know where, we're looking for sites all over."

Mr Sotgiu's family has been in the restaurant trade since 1964 when his father Salvatore came over from Italy to work in Enzo's, Bradshawgate, Bolton, before opening his own restaurant in Westhoughton.