Central London McDonald’s refused permission to open until 2.30am – residents ‘grateful’

The Edgware Road branch had applied to amend its licence to enable weekday trading until 2.30am

A Central London McDonald’s which had sought to extend its opening hours into the early morning has had its application refused by the local authority.

The Golden Arches’ Edgware Road branch had hoped to align its weekday closing time, currently 12.30am, with the 2.30am allowed on weekends.

The later hours for Fridays and Saturdays were only agreed in an out-of-court settlement in 2023, after McDonald’s had launched an appeal against the rejection of a previous application for a 5am finish seven days a week. The latest submission went before Westminster City Council’s Licensing Sub-Committee last week, with the decision since issued to interested parties.

Steven Thomas, Chair of the Harrowby and District Residents’ Association (HDRA) who spoke against the proposal, said he is “grateful” to members of the sub-committee for taking account of the concerns raised.

The Edgware Road branch is run by franchisee Kylu Ltd, which took on the premises last autumn.

Objections were filed by a host of residents and local groups plus authorities including the Met Police.

The owner and operator of the premises, Reema Mavani, told councillors there had been multiple rounds of consultation ahead of the submission, with the level of positive engagement also touched on by other speakers.

“Every reasonable step has been taken to address the concerns that have been raised, and the question before members is not whether Edgware Road is experiencing challenges, it simply does,” she said. “The question is whether granting this careful, amended application…is likely to undermine the licensing objectives.”

Mr Thomas praised the engagement from Ms Mavani though warned the mitigations offered were not enough to quash concerns.

On the expected additional delivery drivers and the applicant’s claims they could be managed, he said: “It feels like such a faint promise, that they can be controlled. Their bikes are their only source of livelihood, so how confident can we be that they will abandon their bikes on the street and just go inside, particularly late at night?”

David Strang, a resident living near to the McDonald’s, said he was initially neutral about the application though over time had changed his mind. He told members delivery drivers are “a scourge in our area, frankly, and anything that adds to the prospect of more delivery riders in our area, congregating outside, creating noise…even at 2.30 in the morning, is really something which we do not want to do”.

Councillors sitting on the sub-committee deliberated the application last week though a decision was not issued on the day.

Interested parties have however since been informed that the proposal was refused.

Mr Thomas, one of those to be sent the summary decision, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS): “Whilst local residents are very supportive of good businesses along Edgware Road, we have to call things out when we know that longer hours conducted by food take-out and delivery model operations create higher levels of anti-social behaviour, generally, and certainly more noise and litter on our streets when our school children and working adults are most in need of rest and sleep.

“We are grateful to the members of the Licensing Sub-Committee for listening to and taking account of our concerns as well as those of other relevant agencies.”

A McDonald’s spokesperson said: “We respect the council’s decision on our appeal for extended operating hours and remain committed to continuing to serve the community within our current operating hours. We remain fully engaged with residents, to address any concerns they may have.”

A full decision with further details is to be published in due course.

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