A French restaurant owner is fighting the planners over a dining room extension.

The Entente Cordiale has gone out of the window after Rosario Guarneri, who owns Le Petit Pain in Church Road, Hove, was told to take down the his 40ft extension.

The shop/restaurant, which specialises in traditional French food, is popular with Brighton and Hove City Council staff based at nearby King's House.

They have used the extension for impromptu meetings and booked it for functions.

But as the wood-based £10,000 extension to a Grade II-listed building has been put up without planning permission, council planners insist it should come down.

Initially they told Mr Guarneri he should demolish the extension by the end of this month but they have now allowed a six-month extension.

The planning enforcement officer regularly buys from, and eats at, Le Petit Pain and has given the owner advice about the unlawful extension.

The 47-year-old restaurateur, who came to Brighton in the Eighties and used to own Victor's in Little East Street, says it was council staff who first suggested he put up a shelter in the garden at the rear of his shop.

Since taking over Le Petit Pain in 2000, he has spent almost £3,000 paving and landscaping the garden area. He said: "Council staff enjoyed my French food and the ambience of the garden so much they suggested I should put up some form of shelter.

"I was initially told I would not need planning permission.

"But I am a naive and innocent Frenchman who trusted the English too much.

"I should have realised, when it comes to your planning laws there is little Entente Cordiale.

"When I was told I should have applied for planning permission, I put in a retrospective planning application.

"I wanted to erect proper disabled toilets and ensure the extension complied with all regulations but they said no, it must come down.

"I cannot believe they want a nice structure which is popular with their own staff pulled down. If it goes, I will have to lay off at least four of my ten staff.

"With my experience in the restaurant trade I wanted to help train young people and have been in touch with City College Brighton and Hove.

"I also help raise money for charity, especially for the Trevor Mann Baby Unit, where my baby son was treated before he tragically died.

"I back on to a huge concrete car park. There is a large extension two doors away and the back of my premises is tidy and has been vastly improved so I do not see why they cannot allow me to keep the extension.

"The houses next door have not complained and many of the residents are my customers.

"But the planners are saying rules are rules and my extension should come down. It is crazy.

"I just want to give the people of Brighton and Hove good French food in nice surroundings where people of all ages can relax."

A spokeswoman for Brighton and Hove City Council said: "The owner of this Grade II listed property has erected a permanent wooden rear extension without planning permission or listed building consent.

"Both planning and conservation officers regard the structure as inappropriate for a listed building. It is a criminal offence to erect an unauthorised structure on to a listed building.

"In an attempt to resolve the matter, the planning officer has spent a considerable amount of time explaining what would be appropriate and encouraging the owner to submit a suitable planning application.

"A new enforcement notice has been issued with a deadline of February 2005.

"He can exercise his right of appeal against the planning enforcement notice if he wishes to."