THIS building may no longer be around in Warrington.

But it has a rich history in the heart of the town in the 20th century.

This is the Tower Buildings which stood at Bridge Foot until the 1970s.

While many remember it is as Wimpy, it an historic use earlier.

In 1942 the Tower Restaurant - Warrington's first 'British Restaurant; - opened in the Tower Buildings at Bridge Foot in the town centre (pictured here during the 1930s).

British Restaurants were communal kitchens created in 1940 during the Second World War to serve inexpensive meals to people in need. Warrington Borough Council ran two such restaurants during the 1940s - the other was in John Street on the other side of the town centre.

For 9d, customers could get a three-course meal.

Traditionally, customers wanted a meal of meat and two vegetables. Generally there were choices of five meat dishes, five vegetables, and five desserts and in more populated areas even more options.

Popular dishes included roasts and potatoes, which acted as a substitute for bread. The foods served in British Restaurants could be prepared in large quantities, which made them good options for feeding an abundance of people.

They were disbanded in 1947 although hundreds remained in use in the UK until 1949.

Tower Buildings later became a tripe restaurant.

By the 1960s it was turned into what it was perhaps best know for.

Warrington Guardian:

The Wimpy bar was a popular haunt for visitors to the bottom of Bridge Street, especially in the 1960s and 70s.

The fast food joint first moved to the UK in the 1950s and the Warrington bar was open in that location until the 1970s.

At the point, the building was demolished to make way for the Academy building which was moved back for the expanded road scheme around Bridge Foot in the centre of town.

Wimpy then moved further up Bridge Street in a new location before closing in the 1990s.

While the brand is till going in some 70 locations in the UK, it has not had a venue in Warrington for more than 20 years.