Work has started again on the site that’s going to be home to a new KFC restaurant and Starbucks coffee shop in Douglas.

A planning application for the Peel Road development triggered a lot of opposition but was given the go-ahead before the pandemic.

However, then work ceased due to Covid restrictions.

A provisional date for the KFC and Starbucks stores to open has been set as summer 2022.

A spokesperson for Excel Construction Group has said ’enabling works’ are currently being undertaken on the site following a pause in work since January 2020.

Construction and groundworks will start at the beginning of July this year.

The spokesperson said: ’The site should be handed over to the client for spring 2022 and the stores should be operational by summer of next year.’

This week, office units and temporary accommodation will be brought in so work can start.

KFC and Starbucks will be sharing the former Eurocars site on Peel Road in Douglas after an application (18/00977/B) by Buchanan Services Ltd was approved last year by the planning committee.

At the start of last year, large machinery was delivered to the site while rubble left over from when the Eurocars garage was demolished was cleared.

The work included some ground break. It will also include a third unit but the use of this was not known when the application was made and has not been announced.

Once open, KFC will operate with opening hours of 11am to 11pm and Starbucks from 6am to 10pm, both for seven days a week.