Jamie: I'm facing ruin

Naked Chef Jamie Oliver yesterday claimed he was facing ruin and could lose his house in a row over plans for a new £1.2million restaurant.

Oliver, 26, said the opening of his Fifteen eaterie in East London was being held up by red tape.

The TV chef and best-selling author warned the restaurant - which would train disadvantaged youngsters to work in catering - might never open.

Oliver said he was the guarantor for the project, due to feature in a Channel 4 series, and sank £700,000 of his money into the venture.

'The restaurant stuff is just driving me mad, I mean really mad. It's not my fault and it's my money on the line. If it all goes tits up it's me, my house that goes - and my office.'

He claimed 'various mistakes' made by Hackney Council delayed the opening of the venue in the trendy Old Street area.

They included errors over advertising the plans to give local residents time to object and problems over the siting of an extractor fan.

'Really boring but so important. We can't even light a match without it,' said Oliver.

'If they are telling me it can never ever have extraction it means it can never ever open, which means I've basically got £1.2million worth of kitchen and decoration in a building I can't use, which then means my house goes. Simple, really simple.'

Oliver, who lives in Hampstead, hoped to open this month but said he was now looking at November if the planning row was resolved.

He added that his students were confused about what was happening.

'All they know is they're supposed to be in the kitchen and they're not, because we haven't got one,' he added.

Hackney Council said it did all it could to make sure the restaurant opened. A spokeswoman said: 'These allegations are totally unfounded.

'Crucial information was missing from the initial planning application in April which took a further six weeks to supply, delaying the process.'

Planners were negotiating with Oliver to avoid another lengthy period of advertising the plans.

But the council said it was still waiting for the celebrity to supply a detailed application for the siting of the extractor flue.

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