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The north west could be home to another Ivy restaurant after plans were approved to open a Liverpool outlet at the former Bank of Liverpool and Il Palazzo office building.

Troia, which is behind the chain of upmarket bars and restaurants, has received the go-ahead by Liverpool council to transform part of the grade two-listed  building on Water Street as part of plans to open the restaurant.

Once occupied by Natwest bank and more recently by Your Space-operated serviced offices, the 15,300 sq ft building has been empty since 2017 and sits next to the India Buildings, which are currently being overhauled by fit-out specialist Overbury ahead of the relocation of HM Revenue & Customs.

Ilustrations submitted with the application show its ground floor transformed into a large restaurant with a central bar.

The plans were proposed last autumn and got the go ahead in recent days, though it is unclear how the coronavirus crisis will affect the proposals.

The Ivy has 33 branches in the º£½ÇÊÓƵ but the vast majority of those are in London.

Its Manchester restaurant, which opened in November 2018, is the nearest one to Liverpool, with other Northern outlets in Harrogate and Leeds.

The original Ivy in London’s West End operates as a fine dining restaurant but its other branches, split into Ivy Grills and Brasseries and Ivy Cafes, offer more casual dining.