A popular restaurant chain specialising in Thai and Chinese food will move into the heart of Bradford as it opens its second West Yorkshire eating place in the £9 million Centenary Square leisure development.

Chino Thai will take on a unit in the complex opposite City Hall on a 25-year lease in September and has begun fitting out two floors in the development, totalling 11,200 sq ft.

It will follow the first tenants - giant pub chain Wetherspoons - which opened a £1.8 million Lloyds Bar last December.

Three other units in the development are empty but developers Asda St James say they are in negotiations with future tenants.

The company opened a restaurant in Huddersfield last year and says it high quality mix of Chinese and Thai cuisine in a contemporary setting had been a success.

The Centenary Square site will have a gourmet restaurant with facilities for function and conferences including a contemporary noodle bar and VIP cocktail lounge.

Ian Barraclough, managing director of St James Securities, said: "This is tremendous news and a great vote of confidence in the Centenary Square scheme. Chino Thai is rapidly becoming a household name in Yorkshire and will add a new dimension to eating out in Bradford.

"Interest in the rest of the Centenary Square development is extremely strong and will become stronger in the wake of Chino Thai's decision to move in."

Charalene Lee, owner and managing director of Chino Thai, said: "We are delighted to move into Bradford. Chino Thai is a young and expanding brand and we believe it fits perfectly with the revitalised profile of Bradford.

"We chose Bradford because it is an up and coming, multi-cultural, family-orientated city."

Council leader Councillor Margaret Eaton said: "This multi-million pound scheme provides further evidence of the growing regeneration activity in the city centre and the confidence investors have in Bradford's future."

The development is on the site of the former Provincial House, which was blown up before construction began.

The development originally sparked controversy, with critics saying it was not imposing enough for its prime site opposite City Hall.

Mr Barraclough, however, said the architects who created it, Panter Hudspith, had a track record for designing modern buildings in traditional settings.

It has five leisure and retail units on two floors with a terrace onto Centenary Square for caf eating.

Developers of the Broadway Shopping Scheme, Westfield, have also announced they want to bring specialist restaurants into their complex to satisfy demand.

Asda St James is jointly owned by St James Securities and Asda Property Holdings.