A PERI peri takeaway owner said they will “struggle very hard” if the council blocks their plans to open longer.

The Grillbox Peri Peri in Dashwood Avenue, High Wycombe, wants to serve customers until 3am every day as opposed to 11pm, its current closing hours.

But as the shop is in a residential area, noise and public safety fears prompted Bucks Council, in its capacity as the licensing authority, to object to the proposal.

Although the restaurant amended its original plan to open until 4am and added further conditions following concerns from Thames Valley Police, this still didn’t ease the council’s concerns, which triggered a licensing sub-committee hearing on Tuesday, May 9.

The council’s principal licensing officer, Simon Gallacher, said there is a “real risk” of public nuisance that will impact surrounding households, adding the licence application was “negligible” on how it would deal with this issue.

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Although conditions were placed by the police, Mr Gallacher said it “needs to go further” as the shop is within a residential area, which requires “robust control measures” to mitigate concerns.

“I think the applicant really needs to go back and give some real consideration on how they will mitigate the risks,” Mr Gallacher said.

He also criticised the plan submitted as it doesn’t show any safety equipment, such as fire extinguishers and fire exits, and does not show the rear extension of the building and fixed fittings, such as the serving counter.

The Grillbox owner Humaira Serwat said after 11pm, they will close the shop to walk-in and sitting-in customers and will focus on deliveries until 3am, therefore minimising the noise impact to neighbours. He added that the deliveries will be done by car rather than noisy motorbikes.

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He also said they “clearly” have a serving counter, fire extinguishers, and fire exits in place.

In his closing statement, Mr Serwat said: “At the moment, we are really struggling. To be honest, if we don’t open until late, we will be struggling and we will be struggling very hard.

“There are a lot of businesses struggling because of the electric and gas prices going way too high. Every single person in this industry is struggling.

“[The extended opening hours] are the only way we think that we gain more business.”

Councillors sitting on the licensing sub-committee will make their decision within five working days of the meeting.