A new escape room could soon be opening up in the city centre.

Escape Hunt, which runs escape rooms in Birmingham, London, Manchester and Reading, wants to open a venue in the Cathedral Plaza shopping centre.

It would occupy an empty unit in the centre next to Miller and Carter and above Starbucks, accessed from the first floor.

The unit, as part of the Cathedral Plaza development, has had permission for use as a restaurant since 2014 but has remained vacant.

Plans have been submitted to Worcester City Council for a change of use and, if approved, would see the venue operate an “interactive live game for groups of 2-6 people”.

“Players will have up to a total of 60 minutes to accomplish the game by solving several sequenced logic problems,” according to planning documents.

The application is for unrestricted opening hours, reflecting the original planning permission granted to the Cathedral Square development, but the escape room’s standard opening hours would be 10am to 11pm Sunday to Friday and 10am to 11.30pm on Saturdays.

According to planning documents, the escape room would “complement the other existing units within the development and support the vitality and viability of the city centre as a whole”.

The applicant adds: “Planning permission is required to allow the occupation of a leisure use in the unit.”

Escape Hunt’s venue in Birmingham offers a variety of games including escape rooms, city-wide experiences including Vampire Hunters and virtual reality adventures.

Commandery Quest - an escape room based at one of Worcester most historic buildings - has proved popular since opening in late 2022.

Museum managers say the escape room, based in the Commandery’s attic, has brought a new audience to the attraction and even returned a surplus in its first full year.

The city also has Cyber Q escape rooms in Lowesmoor Wharf, which offers visitors a choice of games including Alice in Worcesterland, Alien, Crazy Scientist, Kings Never Die, Mystery Castle and The Abandoned Submarine.