A chicken shop in Nottingham can stay open until the early hours of the morning despite opposition from residents over fears it could impact their quality of life.
Pepe’s Piri Piri, an international chain, specialises in flame-grilled spicy chicken.
As well as its newly opened Mansfield Road restaurant, the company currently has a number of other sites in Long Row, in the city centre, Beechdale Retail Park, and Sneinton Dale.
Plans for the restaurant in Mansfield Road first surfaced in 2025, following the closure of the Ginza Japanese restaurant.
The restaurant has now been given a licence to provide late-night refreshments from Monday to Sunday until 3am.
However, at a licensing hearing, a representative for the applicant said the intention is to switch to delivery-only after 1am on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, and 12am on Monday through to Thursday, to cut down on the number of people in the restaurant.
One objecting resident, who went by the name of William, said Mansfield Road has seen a “steady increase” in the number of takeaways, prompting parking and noise concerns.
“The situation as it is already creates stress and anxiety,” he said, before adding later the streets nearby could become a “service area for commercial premises”.
Cllr Steve Battlemuch (Lab) said: “How have you determined you need those extra hours? Is there any customer research that says you are turning customers away because of the hours you have already got?”
The representative for the applicant claimed customers have requested it remain open later into the night, “given that other branches of the same franchise are open until later hours.”
“The premises will continue to operate responsibly with appropriate management of customers and delivery drivers,” the applicant’s representative added.
“Staff will be expected to, as normal, address any disorder, inappropriate behaviour in and around the application property to ensure activity connected is managed appropriately.
“We acknowledge these are potential risks, but these can’t specifically be attributed to the premises only, being that it is a high street – and the applicant is committed to taking reasonable and proportionate steps to minimise any nuisance arising from the operation of the premises.”
The new licence was unanimously agreed, subject to two extra restrictions.
These include the applicant putting up “clear notices requesting customers leave quietly”, as well as notices placed at all entrances requesting that delivery drivers “don’t loiter or leave engines idling.”
By Joe Locker, local Democracy Reporter
