AN old fast food restaurant unit which stood vacant in the city centre for nearly two years has been given a new lease of life thanks to an artisan bakery.

Chicken chain KFC moved from the prominent unit, in the former Brown Muff & Co department store building on Tyrrel Street, back in December 2016 following the opening of a new outlet in the Broadway shopping centre.

It has now been given a sleek new look by the Bradford Bakery team and will open its doors today as 'Lefteris Coffee & Tearoom'.

Bradford Bakery was originally at Rawson Place.

Terence Igbokwe, the man behind Bradford Bakery and its new guise Lefteris, said the old top of town location initially looked promising, but a lack of footfall, affected by factors including the closure of the Morrisons supermarket on Westgate, meant the bakery had lost clients.

He wanted a way to move closer to customers and felt the Tyrrel Street location would be the right spot.

Speaking to the Telegraph & Argus ahead of opening in its new location at the bottom end of town, Terence said: "It has been quite hectic from the beginning of October, the first day I walked into this place.

"We expected it would be a project that would be finished within weeks, but it has taken some months. We want to get it right."

He added: "I can't wait to start baking again.

"We believe this spot is going to give us the platform to really do what we love doing best."

On the new look of the space, Terence said: "I didn't believe how it got transformed.

"From the very beginning to now, I still find it surprising that it has turned out to be like this."

Like at Rawson Place, 'real' bread will stand at the forefront of the cafe's offering.

Cakes, sandwiches and afternoon teas will be available and there are future plans to expand what the cafe offers.

The long-term plan is reflected in the new name.

While baking bread will still be a big part of what it does, Terence said he wanted to reflect there would be more to come in the new location.

He said: "We believe this space is going to give us the foundation to spread out.

"We've got the ground floor space for now, the upstairs is what we don't want to get into now because we want to lay the foundation first of all."

Terence said he hoped the cafe would encourage people to stay in Bradford and highlight the independent business scene.

Lefteris will open its doors from 9am today.