A TAKEAWAY’S bid to stay open until 3am seven nights a week has been quashed amid a Council committee’s fears the extra noise could prove a “public nuisance.”

Bradford Council’s Licensing Panel met yesterday to consider an application from the Madina Roti House and Pizza Bar, situated on Toller Lane, to serve hot food and refreshments into the early hours.

Muhammed Shahzad, the owner of the business, failed to attend the meeting to give any representations, but Charlotte Caygill, from the Council’s Environmental Health department, spoke to outline concerns over the takeaway’s proximity to neighbouring residential properties.

She said: “If the license was granted, we would be extremely concerned about late-night comings and goings.

“Customers tend to be quite rowdy and don’t respect the neighbourhood.”

The committee was told that a recent planning application, submitted in May, to extend the opening hours of the business from 11pm to 3am had been refused, after planning officers raised concerns that any increase would be likely to result in “significant harm to the amenities of nearby residential properties at unsociable hours.”

Planning documents revealed that the Madina’s application had been prompted by enforcement action, after the business was found to be “operating in breach of the originally imposed conditions.”

It has since lodged an amended application, yet to be determined, asking for permission to open from 7am to 1am from Sunday to Thursday, and 7am to 2am on Fridays and Saturdays.

Speaking last week, Mr Shahzad disputed any claims that people living nearby would be disturbed by the change in opening hours, stating neighbours of the business were “totally behind us.”

He raised the issue of fairness between competing food outlets, saying other takeaways in the area opened until 3am.

Councillor Brian Morris (Ind, Keighley West) said the ground-floor properties on the opposite side of the road of the takeaway were all business premises, and questioned the distance to the nearest residential house.

He said: “People who live in the flats above the businesses, they would have known there were businesses underneath. Would they not have expected some noise?

In response, Ms Caygill said: “They would, but would they expect it until 3am every night of the week?”

Refusing the application to grant a license, the chair of the committee, Councillor Malcolm Slater (Lab, Keighley East) said members had concerns over increased opening hours causing a “public nuisance”, and that the committee had not had an “opportunity to resolve those concerns with the applicant.”