Celebrity chef Tony Tobin is to open a £2m restaurant and delicatessen in a former post office in Surrey.

Planning permission has been granted to Tobin and his business partner Peter Wood, chairman of the Esure insurance company, for a delicatessen, a 100-seat brasserie with a wood-burning oven and a 50-seat fine-dining restaurant in Banstead High Street.

Refurbishment work is due to start this month, with a prospective opening date of September.

"It is a very exciting restaurant development for this part of Surrey," said Tobin, who is a regular on BBC TV's Ready Steady Cook and co-owner, with Wood, of the Dining Room, a 75-seat fine-dining restaurant in nearby Reigate.

Chris Knowles, currently head chef of the Dining Room, will become head chef of the new, as-yet-unnamed venture, while his number two, Lewis Evans, will be promoted to head chef of the Reigate restaurant. Tobin will oversee both operations.