Councillors have been recommended to approve plans which could allow the first commercial occupier to move into the former Jacksons store in Reading.

The ground floor of the department store which, closed 10 years ago, has been converted into three units but all three have remained empty ever since, despite a number of abortive deals.

Now burger restaurant Fat Hippo’s application to make alterations to Unit 2, a former pub in King’s Road, which Jacksons expanded into in the 1960s, will be discussed by Reading Borough Council’s planning applications committee on January 10.

The alterations include removal of the gold Jacksons lettering on the flat awning above the unit (pictured centre in image above, complete with traffic cone).

The awning will be replaced with a retractable black awning to match a new black frontage. The design was altered after a previous application was refused.

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