A Perthshire bakery has scotched rumours that it is to close by announcing plans to expand.
It was rumoured that Sugar and Spice was to bring an end to 14 years of trading in Auchterarder. Instead, owners Claire and Allan Devlin are considering sites for a new store.
Claire said: “We are definitely not closing. There was a rumour going round locally that we are. I don’t know where it started from but it got back to us.
“It’s far from the case. We are busier than ever in fact, last year was our busiest year ever. We’ve been here 14 years and, if anything, we are going to expand.
“It doesn’t bother me it’s clearly small-minded people with nothing better to do and with their own insecurities. I actually found it quite amusing.”
Claire added that they planned to open one, if not two, more branches of the bakery in the near future.
However, she remained tight-lipped as to where those would be.
She said: “We’ve actually been looking at premises already. We’re swithering over locations and there’s a few possible options in the pipeline.”
Sugar and Spice featured on TV show Britain’s Best Bakery last year, where it competed against other bakeries from Dunbar and Gullane.
Mr Devlin baked the shop’s signature Scotch pie, as well as millionaire’s shortbread.