A decision to remove an outdoor vending machine serving pizza to students living in Merchant City has been overturned by council planning bosses.

The hot food takeaway joint, which operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, is situated at 2 Blackfriars Road underneath the Unite Student accommodation block and is available to everyone. 

A retrospective planning application for the site was submitted to Glasgow City Council’s planning department after the machine was installed.

Proposals were initially refused on the grounds that it did not match the local authority’s development plan and were then brought before the planning local review committee on appeal on Tuesday morning.

Members of the committee learnt that the pizzas would not be cooked on site before they are loaded into the machine which will support a variety of jobs maintaining it as well as delivering the pizza.

While the vending machine will be open to everyone it is expected students will be among the main customers making the proposal a “valuable” facility.  Chairwoman councillor Jane Morgan said: “This operation will not have an impact on the historic environment and it adequately respects the surrounding area.

“As far as we can tell it would not have a disadvantageous impact on the local community.  “There is concern relating to the delivery of the pizzas and anything that could cause congestion on the pavement and we have been advised that could be addressed by terms and conditions.

“My intention is to approve the application.”

SNP councillor Ken Andrew said: “I am broadly in agreement with your comments. This is a rather unique situation we have had to consider this morning.

“There are some issues with how the unit will be maintained. We need a statement detailing how it will be serviced and cleaned going forward so we can ensure the safety of the public in the use of a machine like this.”

But SNP councillor Eva Bollandar disagreed with the proposals to grant and moved an amendment to refuse the application.

She said: “I have a slightly more negative view on this application in relation to the servicing aspect and that there are no parking spaces nearby.  “There is not anywhere for people to dispose of their rubbish and packaging if they decide to stand there and eat pizza.”

Following the discussion, the majority of the committee agreed to grant the application subject to conditions.