A new Indian restaurant chain is set to take over the flagship town centre premises of a troubled Asian eatery which went into liquidation.

Akbar's is on the verge of signing the contract to occupy the former Blakey's Bar at the side of King George's Hall in Blackburn.

The premises in the town's new £50m cultural quarter were formerly home to the EastzEast restaurant, which shut in September after a possession order was placed upon it.

The firm EastzEast Restaurant BB Ltd went into liquidation owing the venue's owners Blackburn with Darwen Council £50,000.

Now the authority is in advanced discussions with Bradford-founded Akbar’s - which has successful restaurants in Bradford, Manchester, Leeds, Birmingham and Newcastle - to take over the premises.

Lancashire Telegraph: East Z East Blackburn

Its regeneration boss Cllr Quesir Mahmood announced the news of Blackburn with Darwen's full Council Forum on Thursday night.

He said: "I have a great news story in terms of the development of our town centre.

"We are in quite advanced talks with a restaurant chain Akbar's to bring them to Blackburn and I'm hopeful in the next weeks that we will be able to sign that deal off and that they will be occupying the old Blakey's site.

"Hopefully that will be another great addition to the town. These guys are a national chain in many cities.

"They are showing great confidence by putting an investment into our town."

His Conservative shadow Cllr Paul Marrow said: "It's great news someone is coming in to take over the old EastzEast but can you assure us that you are actually going to put a lease in place - a robust one because that place does have a reputation for not having the best leases?"

Cllr Mahmood said: "The lease will be signed and sealed before any occupation happens."

After the meeting he said: "Akbar’s coming to town would be a huge coup.

“They’re renowned for offering quality Indian cuisine with busy restaurants in major cities right across the country.

“Talks are well underway to now bring them here to Blackburn – what a fantastic opportunity this would be for us and for them.”

“We have an impressive £1bn vision for the future here in Blackburn with Darwen.

“Our town centres will see substantial investment in the coming years and central to that is our bid to develop a really strong cultural offer too.

“We have a great story to tell here in our borough and it’d be fantastic to have Akbar’s be part of that.”

The story of EastzEast in Blackburn was troubled from the start in 2018 with a family dispute over the right to use the name.

The Blackburn company has no connection with eastZeast which runs restaurants in in Manchester, Preston, Bradford and Leeds.