COLD water has been poured on sizzling rumours that TV's Naked Chef is to open a restaurant in one of the choicest spots in Suffolk.Speculation that celebrity chef Jamie Oliver was looking to open a new eaterie in the fashionable seaside resort of Aldeburgh has proved, well, fruitless.

COLD water has been poured on sizzling rumours that TV's Naked Chef is to open a restaurant in one of the choicest spots in Suffolk.

Speculation that celebrity chef Jamie Oliver was looking to open a new eaterie in the fashionable seaside resort of Aldeburgh has proved, well, fruitless.

Residents in the town on Suffolk's east coast had heard that the 27-year-old, who has made millions from his TV series The Naked Chef and tie-in recipe books, had an eye on buying the Gastro Bar, which has been up for sale for at least six months.

Suffolk friends of the Mr Oliver and his ex-model wife Jools today said that such talk is certainly not "pukka", though the Star has yet to have its calls returned from Mr Oliver's official spokesman.

"No, he is not," was the firm denial of David Watson, who owns the Crown and Castle hotel in nearby Orford with wife Ruth. "He's actually looking to cut down the amount of work he's doing at the moment so I doubt that very much."

The Crown and Castle is favourite of Jamie's, who visited last month with his wife and two-month old daughter Poppy. His parents, who run the Cricketers pub in Clavering, Essex, where Jamie learned to cook, are also regulars.

Mr Watson added, however, that there is soon to be a different sort of Oliver twist to Suffolk as cameras from the production company responsible for the Naked Chef series arrive in Orford this week to film part of a new series covering the training of recruits for a new restaurant project in London called Jamie's Kitchen.

The staff have been chosen from troubled backgrounds – and will be given a chance to train as chefs under Mr Oliver's expert guidance.

Two trainee chefs arrive at the Crown and Castle to begin their training. A spokesman for Talk Back said the crews will be filming all over the country.

Weblink: www.jamieoliver.co.uk