Glasgow City Council investigating vape shop that opened beside historic Charles Rennie Mackintosh tearoom

A planning investigation has been launched into a vape shop that opened next to a 120-year-old tea room in Glasgow.

Paul Sweeney MSP shared confirmation from Glasgow City Council that a case officer will investigate 219 Sauchiehall Street after he raised concerns about the new premises opening up.

He claims the shop has opened “without the necessary listed building or conservation area consent”.

It also comes after Garnethill Community Council and the Charles Rennie Mackintosh Society wrote to the local authority to raise concerns about the new store’s location.

The society claimed there is an “increased risk of fire” to the 1903 category A-listed building after the new premises opened up, referring to the Union Street blaze in March, which was believed to have started in a vape shop on the building’s ground floor.

The Charles Rennie Mackintosh designed Glasgow School of Art building was gutted by flames in June 2018. STV News

A letter confirming the application read: “Please note that enforcement action is not compulsory and is at the discretion of the Council. We will take action only where it is considered expedient to do so and where the reported matter causes clear and demonstrable harm in planning terms.

“The service standards set out in the Planning Enforcement Charter shall apply once the case officer is satisfied that all the necessary information is in place for the investigation to proceed.”

Mackintosh’s Glasgow School of Art, designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh, was extensively damaged when a blaze broke out in 2018 as it neared the end of a £35m restoration project following a previous fire in May 2014.