BOLTON’S biggest nightclub is to be brought back to life as a “world buffet restaurant”.

The announcement was welcomed by Bolton Council chiefs, who said the town needed to attract more family restaurants.

Ikon closed in January last year because of plummeting trade, but is now set to be revamped as a restaurant serving cuisines from across the globe.

The restaurant, which is set to open in October, will be called Cheers and will serve Chinese, Indian, Thai, Japanese, Italian and Spanish food all under one roof.

Keith Davies, director of development and regeneration for Bolton, said: “Part of our town centre strategy is to encourage more family restaurants into the town centre and a world food buffet would be welcome in the context of improving that offer.

“In policy terms, the more family restaurants we can attract to the town centre the better.”

The inside of the club is being renovated at the moment by restaurateur Michael Shek, who already runs two restaurants — both called East Orient — in Warrington and in Stockport.

Mr Shek said: “There will be an international buffet and restaurant so people can whatever type of food they fancy.

“There’s something there for everyone, no matter what sort of food they like. I think it will bring something new to Bolton.

“I chose the name Cheers because it’s something everyone says when giving a toast and when they’re happy.”

The restaurant will seat 300.

Earlier this year, a regional planning organisation recommended that Bolton town centre should develop more family restaurants and entertainment, including a cinema, along with new offices.

The Greater Manchester Planning and Housing Commission also suggested Bolton should have smaller shopping areas in the wake of massive changes to the retail industry.

Details of the new restaurant were released following a police inquiry into a hoax Facebook page claiming the venue would reopen as another nightclub.

A page called “Club Koko” was taken down after falsely advertising vacancies for staff.

When police contacted club owners the Luminar Group about Club Koko, they had no knowledge about the re-launch and insisted the lease had been sold to Mr Shek.

The Luminar Group have warned people not to hand over personal details to the Club Koko page, which was removed by Facebook on Friday, July 26.

Read our feature about the history of the club, which started life as the Palais de Dance, here.