A fast-food restaurant in Southampton has secured a licence to stay open later as a drive-thru service – but it will not operate 24 hours a day.

Burger King in Burgess Road, Swaythling, obtained a premises licence for late night refreshment from the city council’s licensing sub-committee.

The chain had tabled an application to operate 24 hours a day.

However, following objections and discussions with council officers, the applicant agreed to operating a drive-thru from 11pm to 2am on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, with a service until midnight Sunday to Wednesday.

During the sub-committee meeting on Wednesday, October 2, Burger King Group’s solicitor Alex Tomlinson said the application was part of a national move by the business to operate into the early hours.

He told the committee the restaurant still needed to obtain planning permission if it were to open later.

“If you were to grant this application, it is not all of a sudden that Burger King is going to be trading 24 hours right on someone’s doorstep,” Mr Tomlinson said.

“I can assure you there is a lot of operational management problems that need to be resolved before that happens and there needs to be some planning issues resolved as well.

“What would happen is when planning is resolved as well, we would look to slowly increase the hours in this operation and that is dependent on demand, that demands on staffing level requirements, that depends on whether we are able to get people to work those hours and then get them home safely because that is a major concern for Burger King as well.”

The solicitor said Burger King will not will operate opening hours without the requisite planning permission.

The premises licence application attracted objections from officers in the environmental health and planning departments, as well as ward member Cllr Lorna Fielker.

Mr Tomlinson said: “We are very much aware of the concerns in the locality of the neighbours and it is something we want to work with the council to make sure that no noise disruptions do happen.

“We work really well with our neighbours. We know the neighbours.

“We have not received any noise complaints and none of the neighbours have actually put in a representation even though this has been in the news.”

Councillors questioned Mr Tomlinson about how use of the outdoor seating area would be restricted and delivery drivers would be discouraged from gathering in the area when they do not have any orders.

Sub-committee members expressed concerns about the vague nature of some of the mitigations proposed by the applicant.

Cllr Gordon Cooper said: “There seems to be at the moment a bit of a wing and a prayer on answer the question about the gathering of people at various times.

“Opening for these hours is bound to create more of a gathering point and I think strong mitigation needs to be in place to see how that will be controlled.”

Mr Tomlinson said Burger King was willing to work closely with officers to reach an agreeable position.

The sub-committee granted the premises licence with the amended operating hours and conditions, including reducing the car parking area and closing off the external seating area during the extended night-time opening hours.

Chairman Cllr Matthew Bunday said: “The sub-committee has noted the concerns of the responsible authorities regarding the impact of late-night nuisance and impact of the amenity.

“In particular, the sub-committee noted the concerns about the gathering of delivery drivers and patrons in the car park and vicinity, which is in a highly residential area.

“However, the sub-committee noted that the applicant had suggested a number of conditions in order to mitigate against the adverse effects of late-night refreshments being sold and the sub-committee was satisfied that the applicant was working openly and cooperatively with the residents and authorities.”

He said Burger King had assured doors and windows would be kept closed during the late-night opening, except for when taking orders and handing over food.

“The sub-committee noted that the applicant had offered to reduce the opening hours sought and this was considered appropriate given the location of the site,” Cllr Bunday added.

“It was also noted that no local residents had made any representations against the application.”