A NEW bakery will be opening at a vacant charity shop in Broadstone, despite planning permission being approved for a wine bar at the site.

As reported in the Daily Echo last week, the owners of the Tap House and the Gin House in Wimborne were given the go-ahead by Poole council to open a similar venue at the former Julia’s House shop in Lower Blandford Road.

However, Patisserie Mark Bennett recently announced it would be opening a fourth branch in the unit, with work on the new bakery starting on Monday.

Mark told the Daily Echo he was “really excited” to be opening a new bakery in Broadstone.

“We’re really looking forward to opening. The bakery will be slightly bigger than our Lilliput branch, and we’ll have six to eight members of staff,” he said.

“I started to look at the unit in February, and I had the keys in my hand on Friday (Mar 23).

“We’d been in two minds about opening another branch, but a friend of mine made me aware about the unit and people were saying we should open in Broadstone. It’s the absolute ideal spot for us. It’s a nice little area and there will be a lot of footfall.”

Mark said the bakery should be open by the middle of May. It will have seating for 32 people.

“It will be similar to our other branches but still have its own identity. It will look very nice,” he added.

Kate and Gordon Compston, who own the Tap House and Gin House, were planning to open a “premium drinking establishment” at the site. In their recently-approved planning application they said the new bar would be “something completely unique to Broadstone and the surrounding areas.”

Kate said while they were no longer moving into the unit, “Broadstone is on our radar” and they are “making every effort to find premises”.

“We applied for planning on the Julia’s House shop in Broadstone, which was granted,” she said.

“However, the landlord subsequently entered into a contract with another business.

“We hope to have an announcement for the Bournemouth Echo in a month or two.”

She added: “In the meantime, the good news is that the Gin House will be opening their new, bigger premises in Church Street, Wimborne this May.”