TWO of the UK’s leading restaurant chains have signed up to be part of Liverpool’s £200m Central Village scheme.

Mexican restaurant Chiquito and Frankie & Benny’s are the latest in a string of new lettings at Central Village, which will transform six acres of land behind Liverpool Central Station, Renshaw Street and Bold Street.

The news follows the announcement that the scheme will create around 3,000 jobs for the city over the next three years.

Central Village will extend the city’s retail and leisure core with three new hotels, offices, retail outlets, restaurants, bars, cafes, a new public car park, residential buildings, six cinema screens and landscaped public space, including a boardwalk and water feature.

Frankie & Bennys and Chiquito will occupy 4,400 sq ft and 5,000 sq ft respectively in the Boardwalk building, which will also be home to the six- screen 3-D and Digital Odeon cinema.

Both restaurants will provide outside seating areas within the public plaza.

Ian Jones, director at Merepark, the developer responsible for the Central Village scheme, said: “It’s always been our intention to create a high-quality scheme with widespread appeal.

“These lettings show that Central Village is an attractive proposition, capable of bringing new restaurant and leisure operators into the city.”