Lanark stone market ring to become Tony Macaroni restaurant

As reported in the Gazette, the growing Italian-themed family restaurant chain Toni Macaroni plans to plough £2.5m converting the redundant landmark building into its fourth branch, joining those already open in Glasgow, Motherwell and Livingston.

On Tuesday South Lanarkshire Council granted planning permission and Listed Building consent for the conversion, a step which should end a five year-long row over the fate of the hexagon-shaped auction ring on Hyndford Road, left surplus to requirements when the market moved to the new Lanark Agricultural Centre near the Racecourse.

The owners of the site, County Properties, had guaranteed to find a new use for the buidling before creating its adjoining Braidfute Retail Park but could find no-one suitable to take such a venture on; Lanark’s community council has been sniping at the property company and South Lanarkshire Council ever since over the increasingly delapidated state of the structure.

For more on this story pick up a copy of the Carluke and Lanark Gazette, which is in the shops now.