A new restaurant has opened to replace a popular Brighton eaterie.

Polish restaurant and bar Nasza has opened on the site of The Saint in St James's Street, Kemp Town.

The Saint and nearby Love's fish restaurant closed earlier this year prompting fears that the popular street was being hit badly by the economic slump.

Nasza, believed to be the first Polish restaurant in Sussex, is already open.

The Argus can reveal that a replacement for Love's, which shut up shop despite appearing on Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares, may be just months away.

Nasza offers traditional Polish dishes and a daily special with prices ranging from £3.50 for starters to £11.50 for Golonka gammon steak cooked with Polish beer sauce and mashed potatoes.

The restaurant is run by Aggie Ziajka.

The takeover was welcomed by Phil Graves of estate agents Graves Jenkins who handled the sale of the lease.

Mr Graves said: "As far as I am aware this is the first Polish restaurant bar to open in Sussex.

"It is not just for Polish people it is to introduce Polish food to people living in this city.

"It should work well where it is. It is a great diversification and there is no better place than St James's Street which already has a good range of nationalities represented. It is also great news for Brighton's economy.

"At a time when you hear one in three licensed premises are going to go under, it is great that people are prepared to invest in Brighton."

Mr Graves said he is hopeful that a new restaurant will open in the former Love's premises further up St James's Street within months.

He added: "We have had a couple of expressions of interest which fell through. We have now got one which is going ahead at the present time.

"We should see a licensed restaurant opening there in the next couple of months.

"I can't tell you exactly what it will be at this stage but it will be won't be another fish restaurant."