Requests by the owner of an Ilford crêperie to stay open until 1am have raised concerns over antisocial behaviour and crime.
Abu Saifuddin, who runs Candy Floss Crêperie in Ilford Lane, said he wants to close later as many of his customers arrive later in the night, from around 10pm onwards.
He told Redbridge Council’s licensing committee that staying open later than 12am would be “very important for my business to survive”.
The shop mainly handles orders via delivery services like Just Eat and Deliveroo, though locals also come to collect their desserts.
However, local resident and ward councillor Muhammed Javed said the extended hours would “cause a nuisance” in the residential street and disturb young children.
He said parking was “already an issue” on the tight street and more drivers would worsen disruption.
He said: “I speak from experience: chatter, door banging, revving.
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“Sometimes I hear and witness competition between expensive, shining cars as to who can make more noise.”
In his three-page objection, Cllr Javed said there were already more than 50 late-night takeaways in the area, which meant “preventing public nuisance [was] impossible”.
He said there were issues with “street drinking, drug taking, begging, and littering” and the enforcement of a cumulative impact zone (CIZ) “appeared to have little or no impact”.
CIZs aim to reduce crime, disorder and public nuisance in areas where many shops sell alcohol, the council says. Councils are less likely to approve new licences in CIZs, based on evidence that links the amount of off-licences to increased crime rates.
Mr Saifuddin had initially requested to stay open until 2am, but reduced it to 1am after speaking with the licensing team.
Though committee member Martin Sachs said delivery drivers’ motorbikes “might well be noisy,” the owner said most couriers used pedal bikes.
He added that they are asked to wait inside the shop and “have to be gone within five minutes,” which he said further reduced the risk of noise.
If the licence was granted, he said he would put up signage asking people to be quiet.
Mr Saifuddin claimed the licensing officer had already “given me the green light” by agreeing 1am was preferable to 2am.
After the public hearing, the committee retired to make its decision in private. It is expected to be published before the end of next week.
On top of the CIZ, Ilford is also under a public space protection order (PSPO). The order, enforced by the council and police since October last year, makes it a specific offence to publicly drink, spit and urinate in the town centre and surrounding wards.
Those who breach it could be fined £100 on the spot, or made to pay £1,000 if they are prosecuted.
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