Art enthusiasts are furious about announced plans to open a McDonald's restaurant in the Carrousel du Louvre of the French museum.

"This is the pinnacle of exhausting consumerism, deficient gastronomy and very unpleasant odors in the context of a museum," an art historian working at the museum told the Daily Telegraph.

There is widespread discontent at the decision among the museum staff who are already unhappy about the Louvre lending its name and works to a multi-million pound museum project in Abu Dhabi.

The idea was also "shocking" to the head of The Art Tribune website Didier Rykner, who believes it to be a worrying mixture of art and consumerism.

"I'm not against eating in a museum, but McDonald's is hardly the height of gastronomy," he said.

McDonald's Corporation is celebrating its 30th anniversary in France by opening its 1,142nd Gallic outlet next month.

The restaurant will be opened in the underground approach to the Louvre, known as the Carrousel du Louvre, opened in 1993.

Notwithstanding, the stonewalled gallery's initial remit stipulated that its "commercial activities will be regulated and restricted to cultural or tourist activities".

The Louvre told the Daily Telegraph that it had agreed to a "quality" McCafé and a McDonald's, which are "in line with the museum's image".

This is not the first time that an American beverage and food chain provokes an outcry among Louvre enthusiasts.

An angry protest was mounted last year when a Starbucks café was opened near the Right bank museum's entrance. The café, however, continued to function on the condition that it provides a cultural corner of brochures and catalogues.

TE/MB