Taco Bell asked a council licensing panel to grant a late-night refreshment licence to permit the sale of takeaways at its Brighton branch alongside its existing delivery service until 3am daily.
The London Road branch, owned by Karali QSR Limited, the country’s biggest Taco Bell operator, originally applied to allow customers to eat in later than at present as well – until 2.30am daily, followed by a 30-minute dispersal period.
But before a Brighton and Hove City Council licensing panel hearing today (Monday 2 November) the company changed its application, seeking approval for takeaways until 3am, alongside its existing 3am delivery licence.
The company said that it would permit customers to dine in the restaurant until midnight.
Sussex Police licensing officer Mark Thorogood said that, in talks before the hearing, the company had agreed with the force that having customers dine in was the better option.
By serving customers who were dining in rather than selling food to take away, it would keep people in a “controlled environment” where they could be monitored by security.
Mr Thorogood said that Sussex Police objected to the application and the panel to turn it down.
Before the hearing, the police said that crime figures in the area were high, with 496 incidents reported within 650ft (200 metres) of the branch over a year, including violence, anti-social behaviour, public order offences and criminal damage.
Since Taco Bell opened in London Road in 2021, Mr Thorogood said that there were 17 police-recorded incidents linked to the branch which would occur at any responsibly run venue that was open to the public.
Mr Thorogood said: “None of them are when the venue is closed to the public, operating delivery only.
“By granting walk-ins and or eating until 3am we are likely to see additional issues into the early hours requiring police intervention.”
He said that the force had not objected to late-night deliveries by Taco Bell or other operators in Brighton and Hove.
Karali QSR’s solicitor Alex Green said that the business was a responsible operator running 40 Taco Bell’s across the country and many other restaurant brands including Cote.
He said that the company was offering more safeguards to prevent issues.
These include deploying a minimum of two door staff from 10pm daily for the first two months of later operation, a stricter regime than the police proposal of one door staff after midnight.
Other Taco Bell branches operated by Karali QSR’s have a hosting system to manage delivery drivers, the hearing was told.
Mr Green said: “The only people frequenting the premises will already be out and about and will probably visit the site on their way home.
“The food offering is quick service and the customers will pop in for their food and be on their way like all the other many takeaways in the area.
“People will not come to the area from far away as they will simply use the delivery option.”
Regarding crime in the area, he said that most of incidents occurred in the day and, in one case when the police were called, a victim of crime had “taken shelter” in the restaurant.
Mr Green and Karali’s operations lead David Pratt offered a compromise option of dine-in and takeaway until 2am should the councillors wish to limit the hours.
The panel of three councillors – Julie Cattell, Andrei Czolak and Ivan Lyons – retired to make their decision which should be made public within five working days.
