Pizza World and Charcoal Grill lose bid to extend hours (From Basingstoke Gazette)

Pizza World and Charcoal Grill lose bid to extend hours

11:00am Friday 16th November 2012 in Local By Adam Richards

A BID for two takeaway restaurants to stay open until the early hours of the morning was thrown out by borough council licensing chiefs.

Amrik Ram, the manager of Pizza World, and neighbouring Charcoal Grill, in Queens Parade, New Street, applied to Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council to extend their opening hours until 5am, seven-days-a week.

At a licensing sub-committee meeting, both applications were rejected following evidence from nearby residents, a ward councillor and the police.

Police licensing officer Claire Wanless said that by staying open until 5am the area would attract drunken revellers, increase litter, and strip the neighbourhood of “quiet time”.

Neighbours said their lives had become a misery because of delivery vehicles driven by confrontational drivers, arriving in Flaxfield Road, behind Queens Parade, in the early hours.

Councillor Gavin James, who represents the Eastrop ward, said: “Is it right to have, in effect, a 24-hour restaurant in a residential street?”

Currently, Pizza World closes at midnight, except at the weekend, when it closes at 1am on Saturday and Sunday mornings. Charcoal Grill closes at 11.30pm every day of the week.

Speaking with the help of an interpreter, Mr Ram said he would look at changing delivery arrangements.

But after spending more than an hour considering their verdict, the licensing sub-committee ruled that extending the hours would only “exacerbate the problem”.