Southwark residents’ fears of late-night restaurant where people are ‘urinating and throwing up’ outside go unheard

By Robert Firth, Local Democracy Reporter

A late-night restaurant has been allowed to open in South London where locals’ lives were made a nightmare by people holding barbecues in the street.

Southwark council gave permission for Kent Restaurant and Lounge to open as late as midnight during the weekend.

Nearby residents had objected to the opening of a new late-night restaurant upstairs at the venue in the Old Kent Road.

They complained their lives were already made a nightmare by revellers attending makeshift barbecues outside a nightclub on the ground floor of the building, allegedly run by the same person – although the owner disputes this.

They claimed that their lives had been blighted by drunken punters leaving the club, vomiting and dropping drug paraphernalia outside their homes.

Southwark council approved the licence for the new restaurant, applied for by Eric Doe, at the meeting yesterday, but with reduced hours.

Mr Doe, who also owns Club 701 below the restaurant, had wanted the new eatery to be able to serve booze until 3am from Thursday to Saturday. But it will only be able to sell alcohol until 11.30pm at weekends and 10.30pm during the week.

Residents of Howson Court, which is opposite the venue, said they feared the restaurant would cause them problems.

One resident, who gave his name only as Luke, said: “We’ve had significant issues with the premises over the past six years.

“The issues we face are systemic. They existed before we were here and there were representations long before I lived in Southwark about previous venues that were also there. The change in management never really changes the outcome.

“We have to live with the fallout of these venues every weekend. Last weekend we had a load of cars parked up on the curb for our block. Our one [block] has disabled tenants. What happens if a fire engine or ambulance needs to come while the cars are parked on the curb outside? I dread to think.”

Another resident of the building, who gave her name only as Barbara, said: “From the experience I’ve had living here for the past six years, there’s constant noise, nuisance, pollution, there’s drug paraphernalia outside our block. There are people urinating and throwing up when they come out from the premises late at night which is very disturbing.”

But Guy Ladenburg, representing the restaurant, said Mr Doe wasn’t responsible for many of the problems people living nearby were complaining about.

He told the council licensing meeting: “The neighbours need to recognise that much of the nuisance that appears to take place is totally beyond the control of Club 701.

“The barbecue man who appears to crop up most weekends and run a very good business, that is entirely outside the control of Club 701 and it would be out of the control of restaurant Kent.

“The nuisance that his presence entails has been a matter of complaint by Mr Doe to the authorities because he can’t do anything about it.”