Another late-night takeaway could add to the level of crime in the London Road area, police fear.
As a result, Sussex Police objected to an application by Tops Pizza, at 6 York Place, opposite St Peter’s Church, to stay open until 2am on Fridays and Saturdays.
The business offered to give up its alcohol licence as a quid pro quo to secure the extension to its late-night refreshment licence for deliveries and walk-in customers.
Tops Pizza, owned by Kian Yazdi Nodoochani, 25, already has a late-night refreshment licence permitting the sale of hot food and drink until midnight each night.
At a licensing panel hearing today (Friday 9 January) Sussex Police licensing officer Hannah Staplehurst shared crime figures for the area.
She said that, in the year to December, 639 crimes were linked to York Place and the surrounding side roads. Most were thefts 331 but 113 violent crimes were recorded.
The number of crimes in the wider area, including The Level and Valley Gardens as far down as Grand Parade, totalled 2,388 over the same time period.
Ms Staplehurst said: “With the area experiencing a high number of incidents and crimes, which occur mostly throughout the day, with only 65 crimes occurring between the hours of 11pm and 2am, permitting a premises to be open late into the night-time economy is likely to increase incident in the locality.”
David Dadds, representing Tops Pizza, questioned Ms Staplehurst who said that the figures included police being called to the area – and domestic incidents.
Over the same period, Ms Staplehurst said that 41 crimes occurred in the area between midnight and 2am.
Mr Dadds asked if there were any incidents where the police had been called to food outlets.
He was told that there were four such callouts in the previous year in an area where two other food outlets, Domino’s and City Kebab, were open after midnight.
Council licensing official Corinne Hardcastle said that two complaints last summer alleged that the business was open after midnight. Mr Dadds said that he did not believe that the outlet had been operating out of hours.
Tops Pizza had 85 branches, with 70 of them open until 2am and none with door supervisors, Mr Dadds told the panel.
He said: “Here, we’re offering a door supervisor to give additional comfort that we can manage the customer area. We don’t anticipate any issues of crime and disorder.”
Mr Dadds said that the company had agreed draft licence conditions with Sussex Police and the council’s environmental health department, should the later hours be permitted.
These included a condition requiring deliveries to be carried out by the company’s own drivers, not external operators.
The licensing panel was made up of councillors – Ivan Lyons, Paul Nann and Alison Thomson. They retired to make their decision which should be made public within five working days.
Why does everywhere have to be open till 2,3,4am
Who walks past and wants this food at these Hours.
This City is just ruined-not a good place to Live anymore like it used to be.
Those who have just left the club, been dancing for hours, and need a replacement for those calories, Betty, lol.
Repetition all street long, just another avenue to get the late opening times then come back a year later to get the booze permit re-fitted,
Someone want to explain how limiting footfall and eyes on the street will prevent crime?
Less people at a potentially vulnerable time mean less opportunities for crime to be prepetrated, basically.
Tops pizza uses fake cheese so should already have the alarm bells ringing here