Hammersmith & FulhamNews

Longer hours granted to Fulham fast food outlet

By Ben Lynch, Local Democracy Reporter

A West London Popeyes has been granted an extension to its licence allowing it to stay open as late as midnight despite admitting it was already operating beyond its existing hours.

Representatives for Popeyes apologised after acknowledging the premises on North End Road in Fulham had been trading outside its current licensable hours, which they said was due to the manager believing it could remain open later than allowed.

The fried chicken chain was requesting a licence to run the restaurant from 7am to midnight Sunday to Wednesday and until 1am Thursday to Saturday. Deliveries would be permitted to continue an hour after close.

This would have extended it beyond its current licence which allows it to open between 11am and 11pm seven days a week, and drew concern from local residents and the council’s environmental protection team. A total of 21 objections were received.

One, submitted by the Barclay Road Residents group, read: “This stretch of North End Road is a defined Metropolitan Police Crime Hot Spot. Only shorter operating hours will assist in decreasing crime by not attracting customers and delivery drivers during the proposed ‘delivery only’ hours.”

The Walham Green Ward Panel also wrote in arguing residents and young children on the North End Road and side streets such as Shorrolds Road and Epirus Road would have their sleep disturbed.

Several residents spoke at Monday night’s Hammersmith and Fulham council licensing sub-committee meeting on the feared impacts of a later licence for Popeyes.

John Skoulding, who was representing several residents, said sleep disruption would be inevitable: He said of the food outlet: “It’s a luxury for some who can afford it, but of course it’s not essential. And sleep is essential.”

Claims that Popeyes had been operating outside of the hours stipulated in its existing licence were also raised. One resident, Andriy Marin, asked the sub-committee: “If they’re not following the rules right now, how can we expect them to follow any law?”.

Mark Browning, the chain’s agent, acknowledged the restaurant’s manager had sold food beyond 11pm due to a misunderstanding about the closing time. Gwion Iwan, head of operations at Popeyes agreed it should not have happened and that he would ensure the 70 restaurants he operated would adhere more strictly to licencing conditions.

Mr Iwan offered during the meeting to reduce the requested hours further, having already done so prior to the meeting following correspondence with the council. He also suggested the new licence not be adopted until insulation has been installed and tested to minimise the noise from a condensing unit.

The council’s Environmental Protection officer maintained his opposition to the application due to the expected increase in noise if the application was approved.

Following deliberation in private, councillors agreed to grant the licence enabling the premises to open to the public 10am to midnight Monday to Saturday and until 11pm on Sunday. Deliveries will be allowed until 1am Friday and Saturday.

Picture: Wikimedia Commons/osseous : Wiki page HERE

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *


The reCAPTCHA verification period has expired. Please reload the page.