PRET a Manger's "fresh" sarnies can be up to a year old, it has been claimed.

The chain's baguettes are made in a French factory before being frozen and shipped to the UK despite its slogan "the fresher the better", the Daily Mail claims.

Despite marketing claims of being baked the same day, the sandwiches are made on an industrial estate near Rennes by industry baker firm Bridor, the paper claims.

The bread is partly baked and frozen with labels suggesting the rolls can be kept in the chiller for up to 12 months.

Chris Young of the Real Bread Campaign told the paper: "I can’t believe the bare-faced cheek.

"This is downright misleading. To now learn that the factory isn’t even in the UK is simply shocking."

A Pret spokesman said: “Bread is fully baked in shops and sold on the day or given to charity.”

The claims come after two people died from allergic reactions to Pret products.

Celia Marsh, from Melksham, Wilts, died after eating a super-veg rainbow flatbread which was supposed to be dairy free.

Bridor did not respond to requests for comment, but the paper says a head office employee confirmed the factory provided bread to Pret in the UK.

It also claims to have seen a label on a box of 30 frozen baguettes on sale in London, with a date of production of September 6 2018 and best before September 6 2019.

Pret said in a statement: "The ASA ruled that consumers were unlikely to interpret 'baked in store' to mean only products that were made from scratch using basic raw materials such as flour and butter.

"We considered that consumers were likely to interpret it to include products which were cooked from frozen raw dough or from part-baked dough.

"Once the bread is fully-baked in shops it is sold on the day or given to charity."

The spokesman added that there is no suggestion that Bridor was in any way responsible for Natasha’s death.

The family of second victim Celia have demanded answers after the 42-year-old mother collapsed and died on December 27 last year after buying the sandwich in a store in Stall Street, Bath.

The tragedy came a year after the death of Natasha Ednan-Laperouse, 15, from Fulham, South West London.

Her family said in a statement said: “She was a much-loved mother, daughter, sister and wife. We miss her greatly and we just want the answers to why she died after eating lunch with her family.”

Pret claimed it had been missold a guaranteed dairy-free yogurt used in the snack that was found to contain dairy protein.

It said in a statement the chain said the missold yoghurt "is believed to have resulted in the tragic death of a customer".

It added: "As soon as Pret was made aware of this incident by Bath Council, it withdrew all affected products.

"Subsequent testing by Pret and two independent authorities found that the COYO dairy-free yoghurt contained traces of dairy protein.

"Pret informed the Food Standards Agency, which led to a national product recall from all supermarkets and businesses supplied by COYO.

"Pret terminated its relationship with COYO UK and is in the process of taking legal action.

"Our deepest sympathies are with the family and friends of our customer in this terrible case and we will seek to assist them in any way we can."

In February this year, Coyo recalled all of its dairy-free coconut yoghurts after they were found to contain dairy.

But the company denied playing any part in Celia's death.

Natasha Ednan-Laperouse collapsed on board a flight in July 2016 and later died after eating an artichoke, olive and tapenade baguette she had bought at a Pret outlet in Heathrow Airport.

The coroner at Natasha's inquest last week said she died of anaphylaxis after eating the Pret sandwich containing sesame, which she was allergic to.