Popular fast food chain McDonald’s could be coming to Bretton Centre soon if all goes as planned.

This comes as a planning application has been put in on behalf of McDonald's Restaurants Ltd with Peterborough City Council this week.

McDonald's is seeking permission to convert part of the former Laura Ashley unit into a restaurant and take-away, that could seat up to 80 people.

A small portion of the existing unit sitting vacant since August 2020 will remain available for retail use.

If the restaurant is given the green light, it could open jobs for up to 120 people.

The unit namely Unit 1, situated next to the Boots retailer shop in Bretton Centre, has a total space of approximately 784sqm, with McDonald’s proposing to use 633 sqm. The remaining 151sqm categorised as a Class E unit will remain available for any future retailer.

Alterations are also proposed to the shopfront with new glazing and entrance doors.

The application also details that the proposed plant will mainly be contained internally at the rear of the unit, with new condenser units located externally to the rear.

In preparation for the application and conversion of the future restaurant, McDonald’s carried out an odour risk assessment.

A planning statement said:  “An assessment has been carried out using the EMAQ+ (Formerly DEFRA) style Odour Risk Assessment method and concluded that whilst the size of restaurant and nature of cooking dictate a high level of odour control.

"In this particular situation there are no sensitive receptors likely to experience nuisance from the kitchen extract discharge and a pragmatic approach maximising dispersal to atmosphere is recommended.

“The standard McDonald’s kitchen extract installation will be adopted, with an unrestricted high velocity vertical discharge termination to maximise dispersal of cooking fumes to atmosphere.  Active odour control measures can be applied retrospectively if nuisance is experienced after the restaurant has opened and commenced trading.”

The application is yet to be decided.

Other retailers and food businesses in the centre include Sainsbury's, Sports Direct, Poudnland, a Costa Coffee Shop and Dominoes among others.