A NEW restaurant is set to open on the Cowley Road.

A Bicester-based company called Thor Investments Ltd has revealed plans for number 191 next door to Red Star noodle bar – formerly NatWest bank until 2015.

Because the unit currently only has permission for use as a bank, the company has applied to Oxford City Council for planning permission to change its use class.

Under the plans, the ground floor would be extended and the upstairs converted into a one-bedroom flat.

At this stage, it has not been revealed what sort of restaurant would be opening in the space.

However In the application to the council, the company's planning agent Simon Sharp of JPPC explained: "The proposals seek to reinvigorate a currently vacant commercial unit, incorporating a mix of uses within the building which is compatible both with the city council’s development plan and also with national planning policy.

"The conversion and extension of the ground floor would not be visible from the greater public realm and would improve the usability of ground floor commercial floorspace.

"At first floor level, the creation of an additional single-bedroom dwelling would help to add vitality to the locality, providing a much needed smaller unit of accommodation."