AN outside seating area for customers of a cafe could be created at Basingstoke Leisure Park.

Bowlplex Basingstoke, in Worting Road, has asked the borough council for permission to construct a decking area for use by customers of its cafe. The area would include a canopy roof to shade customers from the sun and protect them from light rain.

The application said the design has been influenced by the “need to provide a less cramped environment in the existing cafe for patrons of the bowling complex and to give customers a choice of where to sit”.

It said that the patch of grass outside the building is not large enough to provide a meaningful setting to the building, and is an “unused sloping area which has no value to customers but which has to be kept tidy”.

Bowlplex wants to expand the space available for cafe chairs and tables and said in its application that “the grassed area outside the front of the building seemed an obvious possibility. It could offer customers the choice of sitting outside to enjoy fine weather.”

It also said that the space would relieve pressure on the inside cafe for much of the year.

The floor level of the decking would be level with the inside cafe, with a retaining wall around two sides and a canopy over the top.

The application said that the structure would be of a temporary style and could therefore easily be removed if required.