Planners have given the go ahead for an extension to England and Gloucester Rugby legend Phil Vickery's No. 3 Restaurant in Cheltenham.

Architects, Design Storey, based in Cheltenham, took to LinkedIn to celebrate: "Amazing news... It has been a bit of a long haul, with lots of discussion with the conservation officer and Historic England, due to the sensitivities of the historic grade II listed crescent.

"It has been such an enjoyable experience to work with Phil Vickery MBE DL, Tom, Jules and the whole no. 3 team and we are now cracking on with the technical and interior design."

Meanwhile, Mark Campbell, head of planning, at Evans Jones Property and Planning Consultancy, told Punchline: "This is a fantastic result and great news for Phil Vickery and his team as he takes the restaurant from strength to strength and clearly establishes it as a firm fixture within Cheltenham's thriving restaurant scene.

"Forward thinking is required to progress applications relating to dysfunctional historic buildings to sympathetically restore them and enable them to play a part in our town centres as useful buildings, and it was great to see Cheltenham Borough Council officers and councillors alike recognising the merits of our proposal and the role it will play in the economy of Cheltenham."

The listed Royal Crescent premises will go from 40 places for diners to as many as 76 and install a new kitchen.

The project will create a new glass box-like structure on the decking area at the rear of the building.

Speaking to Punchline Gloucester in June  last year, Phil Vickery said he wanted to create a place that provided 'great food and a family feel'.

Additional space will allow the restaurant to be used for meetings during the day and provide a click and collect takeaway service.

Planners gave the new addition to the restaurant unanimous approval at the planning committee last week.

The Council ward members, the architects say, praised the applicant's 'collaborative approach' to the process to achieve a recommendation for approval from the officer.

Elaine Milton, historic environment consultant, provided heritage support and Mann Williams provided engineering services.