Blanc plans new bid for spa

RAYMOND Blanc is planning to reapply for planning permission for a spa development at Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons.

The two Michelin-starred restaurant and hotel in Great Milton, Oxfordshire, is undergoing £5.5m-worth of improvements, but was refused permission for a spa last year.

But Blanc wants to prove to planners and local residents that the work currently being undertaken, which was finally approved after a three-year battle, has been "well thought out".

"It is a very sensitive issue," he said. "Three or four months after the work is completed, planners will see that it hasn't cast any shadows. The spa is an essential complement which will be about excellence, not volume."

If permission is granted, Blanc has said that he will sign an agreement that will guarantee no further building work at Le Manoir.