TAKE off has been delayed for a restaurant inside a former aeroplane.

The Steaks on a Plane venue, in Deane Road, was due to open in August, but the opening is understood to have been ‘grounded’ until next month.

The Boeing 737 fuselage aircraft, which ‘landed’ in Bolton last year after being brought from the Cotswolds, was formerly operated by Russian carrier Yamal Airlines.

When opened, the site will have eight car parking spaces and inside seats for 28 guests, who will be able to watch their food being cooked from a grill type menu.

The roof of the plane, which is opposite the University of Bolton’s Technical College, has also been transformed, with the use of LED lights, to look like the sky and decorations from different countries around the world will adorn the cabin.

But customers will have to wait for check-in, according to a spokesman for E-Sparkle, who said it will be now only be “open before Christmas”.

The spokesman added: “The project is still going ahead.

“It is very nearly finished. It will be open in the next few weeks — definitely before Christmas.”

Young people from Bolton Job Centre have helped to refurbish the half-plane, which is owned by business The Steak Out, who employed Bolton firm E-Sparkle Solutions to carry out the main conversion.

A digital advertisement screen, the first of its kind, is also to be erected on the wing of the plane, which will showcase 30 businesses, who will each have a 10 second slot.

The ambitious project was given planning permission by Bolton Council’s planning committee in October 2014, to replace an iconic red double decker Steak Out bus which had previously taken centre stage on the site.

An application has now been submitted to Bolton Council for the removal of the bus from the site and continued siting of the plane fuselage for as a dining unit.

In the application the Highways Authority said “it had no reasonable objections to the proposed use” but recommended that temporary permission be granted again, because it had expired.

Any comments on the application,should be made by November 30, on the council website.