The Loungers chain of café-bars may be moving into the Alton High Street building formerly occupied by the M&Co clothes shop.

M&Co closed in April 2023. Now notices on the front window state that Loungers has applied to East Hampshire District Council for premises and pavement licences for the property.

Loungers could not say that this meant it was moving in - but the company dropped a hint that it might be.

Speaking to the Herald, a spokesperson said: “We are in advanced negotiations on a site in Alton – it’s a great area and we are hopeful to join the local community by opening a Lounge and creating between 30 and 40 new jobs. Nothing is totally confirmed yet, however.”

Loungers began in August 2002 - “on a Tuesday” - when friends Alex Reilley, Jake Bishop and Dave Reid opened their first Lounge in an empty opticians in North Street in the Bedminster district of Bristol.

They developed a policy of individualising the names of their Lounges. The first one opened outside of Bristol, at Oldfield Park in Bath in July 2007, was called the Velo Lounge because it occupied a former bicycle shop.

In Hampshire there is the Solento Lounge, in Lymington on The Solent, and just in case diners and drinkers are unsure what to do, the Portswood district of Southampton features the Trago Lounge - trago being the Portuguese translation of “swallow”.

Loungers opened its 250th site, the Pionero Lounge in Rochdale, in January 2024.

The spokesperson added: “For every Lounge we open, it’s important to us that we give back to the community – we partner with local charities to raise funds, our spaces are used for meetings of local groups and businesses, and we encourage customers to use us as a community hub.

“We hope to have more info on the site in Alton soon.”