PROPOSALS have been submitted to bring an upmarket chocolatier to Llandudno.

Hotel Chocolat has applied to Conwy County Borough Council to fill unit 8B at Parc Llandudno Retail Park, which has been vacant since Laura Ashley closed there during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The company, which was founded in 1993 and has been trading under the Hotel Chocolat name since 2003, has about 125 stores across the UK.

It has plans to open 12 more in 2024, including in Llandudno, where it says it would employ up to 20 full- and part-time members of staff.

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If successful, the premises would include its “Velvetiser” café and a gift store, meanwhile.

Extracts from a planning statement, submitted by agents WSP Planning, read: "Hotel Chocolat intends to use unit 8B as part of its emerging format to complement existing smaller units that are typically located in more traditional town centres.

“The occupier will lay out part of the ground floor to accommodate their in-house 'Velvetiser' cafe and will have some back-of-house circulation space and storage behind."

Hotel Chocolat’s nearest current store to Llandudno is in Chester.

For the plans to be approved, changes would need to be made to terms and conditions which prohibit the sale of food at some of the retail park’s units.