Delays in bringing a proposed leisure and restaurant complex to Braintree has put off one major food outlet from coming to the town centre.

Latin American restaurant chain Las Iguanas has snubbed the chance to be involved in the Victoria Street bus park redevelopment project in favour of Braintree Leisure Park, next to Braintree Freeport, because it fears it will take another three years for the development to be built.

It fears that the earliest time units at the town centre complex would be available would be in 2018 - nine years after the idea to develop the bus park was first mooted.

Braintree Leisure Limited, which runs the leisure park, has asked Braintree Council if it can build an extension to the row of restaurants, which already includes TGI Fridays and Nando’s, to house Las Iguanas and a management suite.

The new restaurant will create 50 jobs.

Emery Planning, who is acting on behalf of Las Iguanas, wrote: “The availability of a unit in 2018 would not meet the immediate requirement for Las Iguanas.

“We consider that the delays already experienced in the delivery of development on this site confirm our opinion that the site is unavailable within a reasonable timescale.”

See this week's Braintree and Witham Times for the full story.