Give three cheers for Valentino's restaurant!

One! It has announced its re-opening after a Christmas Day fire.

Two! It is about to celebrate its 10th anniversary.

Three! It has joined the Lancashire Evening Telegraph's CentrePoint Gold customer loyalty programme.

Under the programme, cardholders will accumulate points by having their electronic cards swiped through special terminals.

They will then be able to redeem these points against savings on household gas, electricity and phone bills.

The popular Italian restaurant in Burnley's Bethesda Street and the VIP night club above it are among the latest businesses to declare their support for CentrePoint Gold, which will be launched in March. Valentino's was closed for five weeks following a small fire which broke out on Christmas Day under kitchen floorboards and caused smoke damage.

Despite the accident, staff continued to serve Xmas meals to 200 guests.

Now it is back - and better than ever, says Carol Gentile, one of a family of four who run the concern.

"We're in party mood," she said. "We're back to normal after the fire, and will celebrate our 10th anniversary shortly after St Valentine's Day on February 14th."

The restaurant, situated behind Marks & Spencer in Burnley town centre, specialises in Italian, other Mediterranean and South American dishes. It is unusual in housing a night club under the same roof.

Carol's brother Leonard, who manages VIPs night spot, commented: "Our customers can enjoy a great meal and then move upstairs to a different atmosphere where they can dance as late as 2 am."

VIPs is open on Thursday, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, and can accommodate more than 500 guests.

It has a state of the art sound and light system, and mainly features mainstream disco music but also occasionally showcases live bands.

For those wanting quieter moments, there is a soundproofed "VIP Directors' Box".

Guests generally pay an all-in price (£7 on Fridays and Saturdays, less on other nights) which includes draught beers and spirits free of charge all night.

"We believe we will get a lot of benefits from the Telegraph's CentrePoint Gold card," Leonard said.

"It will allow us to reward existing customers for their loyalty and help us attract even more clients. "The programme will also give us useful information about our clients, and what and how they spend.

"Reports on card usage will be able to tell us, for instance, how many restaurant customers visit VIPs night club as well.

" And we have the possibility of giving incentive bonus points to customers who visit both the restaurant and club."

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