More than half-a-million pounds look set to be spent building a new café at a Halton beauty spot.

Halton Council's ruling executive board is expected to rubber-stamp a £520,000 injection of capital cash to construct the new facility at Pickerings Pasture Local Nature Reserve (LNR) in Halebank.

If approved, the authority said it would look to finance the move by applying to the Ineos Environment Fund to recoup the cash at a rate of £87,500 a year over seven years.

Once up and running, the café would be let to a franchisee on a 'full repair and insuring' lease, to avoid the council having to provide any further funding in the future.

The authority also hopes that any income generated from the rent would help it offset the running costs of the LNR.

A report to the board said plans had been under discussion for some time but had to be put on ice due to the pandemic. The report added that the council had been contacted on numerous occasions by interested parties wanting to operate a café there.

Runcorn and Widnes World: How the inside of the new cafe could look.How the inside of the new cafe could look. (Image: PR)

The report said: "Currently there is a portable cabin type of facility located on site which has public toilets and meeting rooms.

"The facility has been there for more than 30 years and is in poor condition. It is currently used by the Friends of Pickerings Pasture who open it as and when they can.

"Pre-Covid, the Friends of Pickerings Pasture operated a pop up café
in the portable cabin building which was popular with the visiting public. The venture was operated by volunteers and opening times could not be guaranteed.

"Discussions were held with the Friends of Pickerings Pasture with regards to the creation of a new café building and they are supportive of the idea."

Fist opened in the mid 80s, the Green Flag Award-winning reserve on Mersey View Road is one of the council’s busiest public parks and a popular destination for walkers and families.

Located on the banks of the River Mersey it offers views of the Mersey Estuary and the popular Trans-Pennine Trail route also passes through the site.