Residents on the fringes of the West End and Soho had urged the council to refuse the fast food chain’s “outrageous” application
Popeyes Louisiana Chicken is to open its new restaurant on the edge of Soho until 2am, despite opposition from neighbours who fear it will mean more drug-dealing and drunk people loitering in surrounding streets.
Since 2021, the US-based fast food franchise has steadily grown its presence in the UK capital, and in April the chain opened another outlet at a two-floor retail unit on Tottenham Court Road, on the Camden side of the border.
The restaurant currently closes at 11pm but Camden Council has now granted its bid to stay open until 2am from Monday to Sunday, amid staunch opposition from several neighbours who argued that it would result in more inebriated customers shouting, piles of takeaway rubbish attracting vermin, and a rise in “significant late-night revelry”.
On behalf of one group of neighbours, Shane Duffy warned the council that later hours would “erode the residential character of the local area” and encourage more late-night food outlets to open nearby.
Another resident, Kevin Fogarty, claimed the chicken shop would worsen the “major public nuisance [of] totally uncontrolled drug-dealing in this area”.
Neighbour Peter Secker objected to “social disturbance” but also raised Popeyes’ “history of litigation and dishonest practices and low quality food” as grounds for the council to refuse the application. He added that the restaurant’s “extremely large and bright” orange signage was out of place in the local area, “especially at night”.
The community group The Charlotte Street Association was also opposed, suggesting that customers would end up taking their boxes of chicken and chips into a nearby ‘pocket park’ on Bedford Avenue and cause a nuisance to sleeping residents in the small hours.
Popeyes originally wanted to keep doors open to the public until 5am, but the Metropolitan Police opposed this and said they would encourage the licensing authority to reject the application unless operating hours between 2am and 5am were strictly reserved for delivery orders and a door supervisor was put onsite after 11pm on Fridays and Saturdays.
However, the chain agreed to limit all operations until 2am after Camden‘s licensing and environmental health teams laid this down as a condition, along with banning anyone with alcoholic drinks from entering the premises, and requiring staff to prevent takeaway drivers causing public nuisance, for instance, by leaving vehicles idling or parked on the pavement.
The council’s licensing panel approved the application at a hearing on Thursday, June 4.
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