Council urged to stop McDonald's opening 24/7

Residents have urged a council to stop a McDonald's opening 24/7 amid worries about litter, noise and nuisance.

West Northamptonshire Council has heard an application to alter the premises licence for the restaurant on Kettering Road in Northampton, currently open from 06:00 GMT until midnight.

Locals said they were worried round-the-clock opening would mean more cooking smells, car horns and the "shouting and screaming" of customers.

But McDonald's barrister Sarah Clover said: "They're not wrong to be worried about it, but they are wrong to assume it will happen - because it doesn't."

Clover said the issues raised were "understandable", adding: "Everyone is concerned about litter and boy racers and anti-social behaviour and noise in the night."

She said there was training on how to control anti-social behaviour at all McDonald's franchises and there was a litter pick at Kettering Road three times a day.

A temporary application for the McDonald's to operate 24/7 has been approved for 12 months, but changes to the restaurant's licence must also be accepted.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service said the council's licensing sub-committee met ahead of issuing a licence decision.

Objections were also lodged by the Reform UK-led council's leader, Mark Arnull, who lives near the McDonald's.

Nigel Stansfield, a Reform UK councillor with a responsibility for the environment, recycling and waste, was also against the proposal.

Perry Akhtar, the franchisee who owns the Kettering Road outlet and operates nine other McDonald's restaurants in the county, said every other branch in Northampton, apart from one in the town centre, was open 24/7.

"We're not expecting people to travel from other areas to come to this site.

"It will just be facilitating local traffic, local people, night-time economy, people passing by to give them a chance to get a coffee or whatever," Akhtar added.

The committee has up to five working days to issue its decision.

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