A FORMER drag queen has opened a new venue in Worcester city centre which incorporates a coffee shop, art gallery, restaurant and late-night drinking bar.

AIR, which stands for Art in Residence, in Broad Street was officially opened on Friday by owner Dean Awford.

We reported in your Worcester News last year how Mr Awford was given a £30,000 pay-out following his dismissal from the Northwick furniture store in Ombersley Road.

The 42-year-old claimed he was subjected to two years of homophobic abuse by his boss. An employment tribunal ruled that comments from manager David Gray did not constitute harassment but decided Mr Awford had been unfairly dismissed as certain procedures were not carried out following his resignation.

Mr Awford said he has used the compensation money to start up the new business and is looking forward to being his own boss.

The venue, which will be open from 8am to midnight, has five artists in residence and the artwork on display is available to buy.

Mr Awford, who has launched the business with his partner Mark Satchell, is currently applying for an alcohol licence and has a “bring your own” policy for the restaurant at the moment.

He said: “Basically, we got to a point where we didn’t feel comfortable out drinking in the bars in Worcester. So we decided to open somewhere which was completely unique and different to anything else Worcester has to offer.

“Worcester is an upcoming city. With the expansion of the university there will be a huge influx of people coming from all over the place.

“We will be catering for a wide range of ages and hope to bring a much more continental vibe to the area.

“It might be a bit of a slow grower and we may not get it right straight away but we will listen to feedback from our customers and improve wherever we can.

“We have taken a lot of care to present the venue in the right way as we want to create something completely different.”