A business owner who wants to open a new food outlet in the centre of Brighton is waiting to learn whether he can serve takeaway and delivery customers until 3am.
Sussex Police and Brighton and Hove City Council licensing officials objected to his plans which they said breached a policy on new late-night outlets other than in exceptional circumstances.
Bahaaeldin Abdelalim, 42, told a council licensing panel that he would close the Station Grill, at 62 Queen’s Road, to diners at midnight if he was granted a late-night refreshment licence.
The licence would allow him to serve food and non-alcoholic drinks after 11pm and was discussed at a council licensing panel hearing today (Friday 15 November).
Mr Abdelalim said that there was a need for a healthy hot food offering for late-night workers, including taxi and bus drivers and offered to restrict sales to collection and deliveries only after midnight.
He said that as the restaurant was small and did not sell alcohol that the circumstances were exceptional – and none of his neighbours had objected to the application.
Sussex Police licensing officer Hannah Staplehurst asked Mr Abdelalim about his experience of running a late-night operation in Britain.
Mr Abdelalim had no experience of operating a late-night food business here but had 15 years’ experience in his home country of Egypt.
Ms Staplehurst raised concerns about the number of crimes in Queen’s Road in the past year, including 11 sexual assaults.
She said that there were five businesses with historic 3am late-night refreshment licences without alcohol sales in Queen’s Road, one next to Mr Abdelalim’s premises.
Asking the panel to refuse the application Ms Staplehurst said: “By operating in the night-time economy there is a lot of risk and this needs to be done by somebody who has understanding.
“I feel the applicant has agreed to conditions just to get a licence and then potentially we’ll have future problems.”
Council licensing officer Sarah Cornell shared Sussex Police’s lack of confidence in the application.
She said: “I have concerns regarding the amount of premises in the area … and that the applicant has limited experience of this premises and of Brighton and our late-night economy.”
The panel was made up of three councillors – Julie Cattell, John Hewitt and Ivan Lyons. They retired to make their decision which should be made public within five working days.
