Panel rejects takeaway’s second application for 3am licence

A restaurant owner has had his second application for a late-night refreshment licence rejected.

Bahaaeldin Abdelalim, 43, who owns the Station Grill, in Queen’s Road, Brighton, wanted a licence to trade after 11pm – to 3am daily.

Mr Abdelalim offered to restrict food sales to delivery-only after midnight and said that he had no plans to sell alcohol.

But Brighton and Hove City Council’s licensing policy restricts licences for late-night takeaways in the busy centre because the high number of existing licensed premises and their “cumulative impact”.

Sussex Police also objected to the application because of high crime levels in the Queen’s Road area, with 283 crimes in the past year, including nine sexual assaults, other violence and thefts.

At a licensing panel hearing on Monday 16 June, Mr Abdelalim said that to refuse him a licence would be unfair when chains such as KFC and Popeyes and long-standing businesses in the area could operate.

Mr Abdelalim has trained and qualified as a door supervisor, he said, as well as taking work in a kebab shop in West Street to gain experience of the late-night economy.

He also repeatedly told the panel – councillors Julie Cattell, Paul Nann and Kerry Pickett – that he had no plans to sell alcohol.

A decision letter from the council to the applicant noted police concern that another late-night food business in Queen’s Road would add to the problems in the area and hinder efforts to disperse people.

The council said: “The panel has carefully considered this application on its merits and is mindful of the location of the premises in Queen’s Road … which experiences high levels of crime and disorder and is a key late-night thoroughfare.

“The police representation illustrated this. Ultimately, the panel do not consider that the applicant has shown any exceptional circumstances to enable departure from the ‘cumulative impact’ policy.

“The panel did not believe that the applicant properly appreciated or understood what the policy meant in terms of cumulative impact.”

Mr Abdelalim is currently appealing against the refusal of his application for a late-night refreshment licence that went before a council licensing panel last November.