An eyesore that has blighted the entrance to Putney for years is finally to be brought back into use.

A four-year legal wrangle between the owner and the lease-holder of 4-6 Putney High Street has been resolved and the owner has pledged to get things moving.

He took legal action after the lease-holder applied for planning permission to turn the building, on the corner of the High Street near Putney Bridge, into a restaurant but then failed to go ahead with the work.

Now Clifford Gardener vows to turn the ground floor of the building into a restaurant, which will extend into underground vaults stretching under the road to the riverside.

He already has funding in place and has applied for a licence. If he gets planning permission work will start early next year.

Putney has been inundated with bars, pubs and restaurants over the last few years, but Mr Gardener says he does not plan to open another tatty, noisy pub.

"I'm going to be living above it so the last thing I want is a rough pub.

"The restaurateur trained under the Roux Brothers at Gavroche and runs The Aquarium at St Katherine's Dock.

"It will be a mid-priced restaurant selling good food. I'm going to open up the vaults and diners will get a river view."

He promises the original frontage of the building will be restored to its former glory, complete with cherubs, and he wants to build an extension on the top to create a two-storey maisonette for himself.

"The legal battle almost bankrupted me but everything's falling into place now," he said.

The Putney Society has welcomed the news. "It will be wonderful to see the end of this long-running eyesore," said buildings spokesman John Horrocks.

"It's been a mess for far too long."

The application will be discussed by Wandsworth Council planners at a future meeting.

December 14, 2001 11:00