A new eatery and coffee-stop adjacent to Gloucester Quays is set to open this month creating as many as 20 jobs.

In what will eventually be a three-pronged opening - also including two other major additions - a new Costa Coffee at Bakers Quay will be ready for its first customers in the middle of August.

Following closely on its heels (we are as yet unable to confirm the dates for these two) will be the near-by new Premier Inn and Beefeater restaurant - all located off St Ann Way beside the bridge.

The new show-piece premises were all built by Gloucester-based Barnwood Construction and include the water-side rebuild of the fire-ravaged 150-year-old Provender Mill which is now 47 new apartments.

"Costa Coffee, the nation's favourite coffee shop brand, is pleased to confirm that our brand-new Drive Thru store at the Quays will be opening in Gloucester, bringing 18-20 new jobs to the local area," said a spokeswoman for Whitbread PLC, which owns all three brands and is the UK's largest operator of hotels, restaurants and coffee shops.

"We already enjoy being an active part of the local community in Gloucester, and the team look forward getting involved with events; providing the store as a meeting place and helping with fundraising."

Founded in London by Italian brothers Sergio and Bruno Costa in 1971, Costa Coffee now has over 2,200 coffee shops in the UK.

Costa also runs the Costa Community Programme, its own foundation, which seeks to improve the lives of communities around the world, and the Costa Book Awards in the UK.

Its new Drive Thu is due to open on August 8 and will be its second such business in Gloucester.