Berlin Grill is seeking permission to serve hot food past midnight at its Brighton Road premises, with residents raising concerns over fumes, litter, noise and late-night disruption
A Purley resident has complained of being subjected to fumes from burnt oil and “fishy odours” for up to 12 hours a day ahead of a council decision on a local takeaway.
Croydon Council’s Licensing Committee will meet next week to consider Berlin Grill’s application to serve kebabs, fish and chips and other food after midnight every night at its premises at 110 Brighton Road, Purley.
However, the application faces a hurdle as Brighton Road falls within a cumulative impact area, meaning new late-night licences will only be granted in “genuinely exceptional circumstances”.
Berlin Grill initially sought permission to operate until 5am but reduced the proposed hours following discussions with the Metropolitan Police. Under the revised application, the takeaway is seeking to extend its hot food service hours until 1am from Monday to Thursday and until 2am from Friday to Sunday.
The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) spoke to a Berlin Grill representative, who said the business was seeking the amended licence in response to increased demand for late-night takeaway food in the area.
However, several local residents and businesses have opposed the takeaway’s plans, with one family living next to its ventilation equipment raising particular concerns about environmental nuisance.
In their official objections, the resident said the “constant hum, low-frequency vibration, intense heat, and heavy grease fumes” are directed towards their son’s bedroom window, making it impossible to open without filling the room with heat and odours.
Another resident living near the takeaway wrote: “We are fed up with breathing in fumes from burnt oil and other fishy odours for 12 hours a day.”
The same resident also raised concerns about rubbish on the pavement, describing having to deal “with the litter left behind by customers and contending with a pavement covered in grease” as a major burden.
Photographs submitted to the council appear to support these concerns, showing commercial waste dumped on public footpaths, including used cooking oil tins, cardboard food boxes and black refuse sacks left outside neighbouring shops.
Residents also warned that the licence extension could “attract a drunken clientele” and make the area “less safe during late hours”. Several objectors cited previous incidents of people fighting, arguing and urinating on the pavement outside the shop.
Business owners along Brighton Road near Reedham Station also raised concerns about late-night disruption for businesses and residents. A representative of neighbouring Sherwood Jewellery said Brighton Road being a main road “does not mean residents should reasonably be expected to tolerate commercial customer activity immediately beneath their homes throughout the night.”
Objectors also raised concerns about limited parking along Brighton Road, warning that extended opening hours could attract idling delivery riders, creating noise, blocking access and worsening congestion.
A key concern for Berlin Grill is that it sits within Croydon Council’s Brighton Road cumulative impact area, where council policy presumes against new late-night permissions. Officers say the policy is “intended to be strict” and will only be overturned in “genuinely exceptional circumstances”.
Council guidance states that a well-managed business or the operator’s good character alone is not enough to justify an exception. Berlin Grill has agreed to police-requested crime prevention conditions and must satisfy the licensing panel that the premises will not undermine the licensing objectives.
The application will be considered by Croydon Council’s Licensing Sub-Committee on September 28, with a decision expected within five working days. A Berlin Grill representative told the LDRS that the business will respond to the objections at the meeting.
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