Lingerie could be rendered unfit for sale by the smell of pasties, if a Greggs bakery opens next door to a high street retailer in Belfast, it has been claimed.

Greggs is in the middle of a massive fit-out of its first city centre bakery on Royal Avenue.

But next door neighbour Bravissimo is cooking up a storm after it objected to having the cafe and budget pasty chain as a neighbour, with concerns over the smell of sausage rolls and pies wafting into the lingerie shop and affecting business.

Mike Tremellen, director of Bravissimo, has written to planners to oppose Greggs' plan, and also believes the bakery should apply for 'change of use' permission to allow the sale of hot food.

The lingerie company has a 10-year lease on the building which it will share with Greggs.

Greggs has an application in for planning permission, but it has not yet been given the green light for the new store.

The pie and pasty chain is rolling out dozens of locations here in the next couple of years.

Bravissimo said it has "appointed a planning consultant to prepare and submit our full objections and this will follow next week".

But Greggs suggested that Bravissimo shouldn't get its knickers in a twist.

A spokeswoman for the bakery told the Belfast Telegraph: "We intend to operate the store within the planning approvals already granted.

Expand Close Bravissimo on Royal Avenue, and the unit next door which will soon accommodate the latest outlet of Greggs REUTERS / Facebook

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Whatsapp Bravissimo on Royal Avenue, and the unit next door which will soon accommodate the latest outlet of Greggs

"As a responsible company we are happy to work with our neighbours to try to alleviate any concerns that they may have about our operations."

In his objection, Mr Tremellen said: "We have a shop floor and stock room directly above the proposed Greggs unit and we are extremely concerned that the cooking smells will permeate into our shop, not only making it an unpleasant environment for our customers to shop in, but making our stock unfir for sale.

"Bravissimo's operation is the retailing of lingerie and clothing made with materials that can pick up odours.

"Our operation is to one side and above the proposed Greggs operation."

He also claims Greggs needs a change of planning consent to allow it to sell hot food.

"Our consultant will contend that given the concerns we have raised that it will be necessary that the council impose a planning condition controlling the sale of goods in this shop to cold goods for consumption... failure to satisfy those policies will lead to refusal of the application," he said.

The locations of the two latest Greggs outlets were revealed by this paper earlier this month, including an outlet at Duncrue Industrial Estate and one at the Kennedy Centre in west Belfast.

Greggs has already opened an outlet at Boucher Road, with two others, as yet unconfirmed by the firm, in Belfast city centre, including the one on Royal Avenue which Bravissimo has objected to.

It opened its first store at Applegreen services on the M2 last April, with others at new service stations soon following.

Belfast Telegraph