A HIGH street cocktail bar and restaurant has had to close after it became unviable.
Lounge Seven in Westhoughton had been teasing a relaunch date through its Facebook page after closing temporarily last year.
But after a month or two of silence, the business revealed it was closing for good on Facebook after judging that the branch had become "unviable".
The vacancy leaves a prominent unit in Market Street empty, but Cllr Ryan Battersby, town council central ward representative, believes it would be filled before too long.
He said: “It’s upsetting that the business has closed on Market Street but it provides a good space for other businesses.
“I believe that a number of people are wanting to start a business and are looking to move into the high street.
“There are a couple of stalls that have opened in the market and the empty shops we had are being filled.
“I wish the owners of Lounge Seven the best of luck.”
It was scheduled to reopen on Friday, January 27 but a statement on the company's Facebook page in January said it was put back due to terms imposed by Greater Manchester Police licensing division and Bolton Council.
It is unclear what the terms were.
The bar opened its doors at 75-77 Market Street in October 2013.
It was billed as a "trendy" cocktail bar that pledged to buck the trend of recent pub closures in the area.
It was the latest incarnation of the historic building that has been the base of several businesses over the years.
It was formerly the Parrs Bank and it was most recently the Red restaurant, which won a coveted Lancashire Life award.
It then became an American-style restaurant that was short lived before Lounge Seven took over.
The cocktail bar was owned by Demetrios Kyriacou and when it opened he said it would not go the same way of other former businesses in the town.
The statement came after four pubs in Westhoughton have closed over an 18-month period in 2012 and 2013.
