OXFORD restaurateur Clinton Pugh and his staff were in the party mood after announcing plans to open a new Cafe Coco, in Frideswide Square.

Mr Pugh, centre, is aiming to make it third time lucky as he prepares to move into the former Smollensky's restaurant.

The restaurant, on the ground floor of the Royal Oxford Hotel, has now changed hands three times in recent years.

The one-time hotel bar opened as Savannah in 2001. Investors ploughed more than £1m into the business, much of it refurbishing the bar and restaurant.

It passed into the hands of Smollensky's, a small chain based in London, three years ago.

Mr Pugh believes he has the right ingredients to make the site a success, by capitalising on its position close to the railway station and Oxford University's Said Business School.

In addition to opening a new Cafe Coco, he will turn about a quarter of the floor space into a food shop, called Coco To Go, selling sandwiches, soup and drinks. He said he was undeterred by the problems of past owners, insisting that many of his previous restaurant ventures in Oxford had turned round struggling sites.

Expanding his Coco chain is one of a number of projects Mr Pugh will be pursuing in the New Year. He is planning to open a new venture in Cowley Road - the Oxford Organic Burger Company - in the former Moonlight Tandoori restaurant, which has stood empty for a year.