A Thai massage parlour that could soon open above cheese shop in the heart of Didsbury will not be 'seedy', the man in charge of the planning application for the business has said.

A letter from a solicitor has been sent to residents and shop owners urging them to oppose the plan for 'Sui Generis' in an old office space above The Cheese Hamlet.

“I don’t wish to speculate what upon may go on in a Thai massage parlour, but I do trust you will agree that it is not the sort of business we want in the village,” Andrew Twambley wrote.

He raised concerns about the business attracting 'questionable clientele from outside the area'.

An application has been put in for the business at 706a Wilmslow Road in Didsbury village.

(Image: Vincent Cole)

Bosses hope to employ three people at the parlour.

Mr Twambley said he had written to the council to object.

"As it’s not the easiest place to find, the clientele will be parking on Crossway and wandering around Crossway asking for directions from you… and your children and grandchildren," he added in his letter.

"Let us show that the local residents do not agree that we need a Thai massage parlour in our village, nor the type of punter such an establishment would attract."

Mr Twambley told the Local Democracy Reporting Service the parlour would 'attract people of a lesser quality' and 'degrade the essence of the village'.

But Mark Newman, agent for applicant Juthamas Clifford, said the venture was 'not the seedy business the name might conjure up' - and that as a Didsbury resident himself, he wouldn't support the application if he thought it was 'seedy'.

“It’s more like a beauty spa,” he said, adding that Mrs Clifford is 'a fully-qualified masseuse'.

(Image: Vincent Cole)

Mrs Clifford said she is accredited by the Thai Ministry of Public Health and has been practising as a massage therapist in Manchester for the past five years, treating a number of sports people.

She pointed out that there are a number of massage businesses in Didsbury and said access would be through a rear car park.

"We respectively suggest that any disruption to local residents - their children or indeed grandchildren - are totally unfounded," she added.

The Cheese Hamlet owner John Axon said he has met Mrs Clifford and her husband described them as 'nice and respectable'.