PLANS to turn a vacant takeaway in a Bradford retail park into a new Starbucks have cleared a major hurdle.

This summer it was revealed that the coffee giant planned to open a drive-thru unit in the Weaverthorpe Retail Park, off Tong Street.

The coffee shop would be based in a former KFC unit that has been empty since January.

However, restrictions placed on the chicken takeaway when it was built in 2005 could have proved problematic for Starbucks.

One condition of the KFC approval was that the unit could not open before 8am.

An application to amend the almost two-decades-old planning application was submitted to Bradford Council.

This sought to amend the approved opening hours for any business based at the unit - 8am to midnight.

The proposed new hours were 6am to 11pm – hours more suited to a coffee shop.

Those changes have now been approved by Bradford Council.