A new-look cafe and restaurant has been unveiled in Bradford’s historic City Hall – and the public are being invited to use it.

Bradford Council has spent about £50,000 refurbishing the former canteen which used to be subsidised.

Now Council bosses say the revamped cafe and restaurant will aim to be “totally self-sustainable” so it is not reliant on taxpayers’ cash.

Mark Hoyer, commercial catering manager, said: “We want to encourage more staff and people off the street to eat here.

“We don’t aim to make a profit but we will try to create a surplus to reinvest into the operation. Not a penny of ratepayers’ money will be used – all the money comes out of the catering operation’s money which is generated within our operations.”

So far the Council has focused on promoting the facilities to staff and former workers by word-of-mouth, but a marketing campaign targeting members of the public will follow.

The cafe and restaurant are in separate rooms. Both are brightly decorated with wooden flooring and modern fittings.

Up to 45 diners can be seated in the restaurant at any time.

Starters include prawn cocktail, melon and bayonne ham and soup of the day and cost up to £1.65. There is a range of salad, pasta and vegetarian dishes, side orders and desserts. A choice of ten main meals include home-made beefburgers and poached salmon and watercress and cost between £1.95 and £3.95. Prices are the same for Council employees as they are for members of the public.

Customers can buy sandwiches, panninis, cakes, fruit and fresh coffee from the cafe which seats about 20 people.

The Lord Mayor of Bradford, Councillor Howard Middleton, welcomed the refurbishment.

He said: “The food was always very nice but it looked like a 1970s canteen. The new menu is healthy, as requested by staff, but keeping traditional dishes.”

Mr Hoyer said: “The aim is to bring it up-to-date with the more modern feel and the cafe culture we are trying to achieve in the city centre.”

To get to the cafe and restaurant, which are situated on the fourth floor of City Hall, people must sign in and collect a visitor’s badge at the ground-floor reception desk. The cafe opens Mondays to Thursdays, 8.30am to 4pm, and Fridays, 8.30am to 3pm. The restaurant opens Mondays to Fridays, 11.45am to 1.45pm.