A CHIQUITOS restaurant is to open its doors later this year in the town centre as progress on the development continues.

The news follows further signs of progress in works at the former St Thomas’ Square site.

The area - known as West Point - has been the subject of one of the borough’s most drawn-out development sagas.

So far the location, opposite Cineworld cinema, has seen an Aldi superstore open its doors in 2015 and earlier this year Costa Coffee opened a drive-thru at the site.

A further structure has begun to take shape at the site and, although developers have not said what this building is intended for, a Chiquitos spokesman said “it is likely to open in the autumn or winter of this year”.

The ‘Tex-Mex’ restaurant chain had been heavily linked with the development after it featured in a planning application which was submitted in May last year to St Helens Council.

However, Bella Italia, which had announced in 2015 they would be opening premises at the site, has withdrawn from the project.

A spokesperson from Bella Italia said: “We regularly review and evaluate the opportunities that we have to open new Bella Italia restaurants, and as a result, on this occasion, we have decided not to take up an opportunity at West Point.

“However, we would love to find a suitable home for Bella in St Helens and continue to look for the right location.”

Speculation over a tenpin bowling alley continues with a St Helens Superbowl also featured in planning application.

When asked by the Star, a Superbowl spokesman would not confirm the organisation was creating a premises at the site, saying a deal was yet to be signed.

However, a ‘Superbowl UK St Helens Limited’ company has been listed on the Companies House website since August 26, 2016.