THE new restaurant at Royal Bolton Hospital is set to open next month.

Work started on the new facility in August and was originally set to open in October.

However, there were delays to the restaurant, which will open in the hospital’s current kitchens, but a date has now been set for it to open on Monday, December 18.

The new restaurant is part of a development at the hospital, which is seeing an endoscopy unit replacing the old staff and visitor restaurant.

This is expected to open in January and will help the hospital meet an increase in demand.

Over recent months food has been served from a stand-alone 90 seater unit behind the neonatal facilities at the hospital.

Speaking at the annual members’ meeting, chairman David Wakefield said the new restaurant will be serving Christmas dinners during the festive season.

The restaurant will be run by catering company Elior, which provides services to other NHS trusts.

There will be a new menu featuring foreign influenced dishes such as Asian noodles and curries as well as more traditional British food and a selection of salads.