A LUXURY dessert restaurant is hoping to become the “heart of the community” in Bolton town centre.

Heavenly Desserts is located in Unit 1 of 79-87 Deansgate — better known as the former Beales department store.

Jacob Verity, head of new stores for Heavenly Desserts, admitted that the history of the building was a massive draw.

He said: “It’s a historic building and Peaky Blinders films on this street as well, so we’ve gone for a bit of history.

“It’s a nice town and we’re really excited to open here. I think the locals will like it.

“We are a dessert restaurant, not a parlour and it’s the hand-craft experience you’d expect and it’s somewhere you will come back over time. It’ s place to meet friends, really nice food, really good drinks.

“We’ve seen in the past that these restaurants become the heart of a community.”

The group was formed in 2008 and it recently opened restaurants in Sheffield, Wolverhampton and Cardiff, with another restaurant planned for Peterborough, as well as Bolton.

The Bolton store is the 17th to open in the UK, as part of the franchise’s expansion to Greater Manchester.

It has created 20 jobs, including managers, assistant managers, shift supervisors, and front and back of house team members.

The company believes that its menu "provides the perfect blend of rich flavours and textures for anyone seeking a moment of pure decadent indulgence".

Over the weekend, 100 people were invited to a VIP event and staff also had a family and friends' night, ahead of a soft launch.

Despite its grand launch not coming until this Friday, the restaurant is already drawing attention.

Mr Verity added: “We’ve got a BBC Two documentary being filmed here and an ITV show are going to use the store for some restaurant scenes.

“Every store is different though with special decor for each place. This is a new-style restaurant and we’ve tried to inject a bit of colour into it.”