A popular restaurant in Ipswich’s town centre which closed after a fire more than 10 months ago is set to re-open before Christmas.

Ipswich Star: Eight fire engines rushed to the scene of the blaze at The Townhouse Restaurant in Orwell PlaceEight fire engines rushed to the scene of the blaze at The Townhouse Restaurant in Orwell Place (Image: Archant)

Around 20 firefighters tackled the kitchen blaze at The Townhouse Restaurant in January after an apparent fault with the fan extraction system.

Morgan Decker, the owner of the restaurant, spoke of his heartache following the fire but vowed to return the venue in Orwell Place back to its former glory.

He told the Star he was “incredibly thrilled” to announce that the restaurant is set to re-open towards the end of November.

He said: “It has been a very hard and problematic year. We have been working endlessly in the background to bring it back and it is finally almost here.

“The fire destroyed the ladies’ toilet – it took the roof off, but work to replace that was very straightforward. The damage was minimal and there has been with the landlady or with the insurance – there has just been endless red tape.

“It has been very frustrating but we have finally solved all the problems.

“We have finally secured planning consent for the re-installation of the extraction system and work is now underway to re-open The Townhouse for the last week of November, just in time for Christmas.”

Mr Decker said he wanted to return the restaurant back to how it was before the fire and said he believes his former clientele will also return.

He said: “We are aiming to put the Townhouse back to how it was when it closed; as close as possible.

“We have always been very well received and we want to get that atmosphere back again.

“We are going to have the same chef team; same everything, and I am confident our customer base will return.

“It was a considerable setback and Christmas will be a thinner month, but once Christmas is out of the way and we are into the New Year we will be trading as normal – hopefully.”

Mr Decker said an explanation into what caused the fire has not been forthcoming, but said it is believed it started in the fan extraction system.