FIFTEEN restaurants at Docklands - or 40 per cent - have closed their doors in the past 10 months, leaving residents devoid of dining options and the remaining restaurateurs fearing for their own survival.

Restaurants believed to have shut up shop include NewQuay stalwarts LiveBait and Mecca Bah, owned by restaurateur Lou Jovanovski, who at one time had half a dozen restaurants in the precinct. Mr Jovanovski pointed to overpriced rents and unfulfilled promises, as well as a lack of marketing for his pulling out of the precinct after seven years.

''It's a bloody disaster down there. It's a total ghost town.''

Mr Jovanovski claims to have lost more than $10 million in his bid to continue to attract diners to the area.