RESTAURANT and nightclub entrepreneur Ifte-khar Harris says Newport council needs to wake up and smell the coffee if it wants to run a real city.

He claimed the council was unhelpful and unimaginative when it came to helping businessmen such as himself.

Mr Harris owns the Bombay Bicycle Club restaurant and OTT's nightclub and is just about to relaunch his High Street restaurant and bar La Bamba.

He said: "The council wants Newport to be a city but seems uncomfortable with the kind of night-life a proper city has.

"It does nothing to encourage restaurants, for example, and that's exactly what the centre needs to broaden the profile of people coming to use it at night.

"If all we end up with is large drinking dens, then the clientele will consist solely of large groups of lads and the associated problems this can cause.

"Well-run city centre establishments have staff to deal with the public properly. Shutting the centre down at night, which the council would love to do, only shifts people to unsupervised areas where the potential for trouble is actually greater."

Mr Harris has spent the last nine months refurbishing La Bamba. "It has taken a long time because I'm funding it all myself.

"Swansea council has been very proactive in assisting restaurateurs restore properties in the city - I've seen little sign of that here."

Mr Harris said one of the reasons La Bamba's refit has taken so long is the contraints placed upon his builders by the council.

"Because we're on the High Street, the council will only allow access for the builder's vans before 11 or after five.

"This means they have to park at a remote location and walk back and forth to the job. It makes it twice as hard."

La Bamba's first floor restaurant has been redesigned by Mr Harris with help from Newport artists Tim Hobbis and Mark Lewis.

An elegant terracotta and yellow colour scheme features planetary paintings which remind you of science fiction movies like 2001 A Space Odyssey.

"I'm trying to create a restaurant suitable for the business and professional during the day and early evening," said Mr Harris.

He has done this because he believes - with some justification - that Newport has hardly anywhere suitable for entertaining clients or colleagues.

"During the day the door policy will be quite strict but later in the evening it will be more relaxed.

"All our marketing will be conducted around the idea of a business luncheon club - a smart place to meet up with good food and a nice ambience."

Having overrun last week's opening deadline, La Bamba is now on course for an opening evening this Thursday, and a daytime opening on August 24.

The building now features a main kitchen on the second floor and a smaller next to the restaurant.

"We'll be offering three styles of food, Mexican cantina, world fusion and home-made pizzas."