Takeaway owner gives warning over late night dangers as licence sought for new venue

Ibrahim Samy Aboelmaged has applied to Blackpool Council for a late night refreshment licence to allow him to serve food between 11pm and 5am at Ocean King on Talbot Road seven days a week.

But two objections have been received meaning a town hall licensing panel will meet on Wednesday September 6 to make a ruling on the application.

Representations include one from the operator of King Kebab on Dickson Road who has warned there is already a lot of late night disturbance in the area.

Documents submitted on behalf of Emad Ramadan Abdelmaaboud Elsawi Hammouda, who is the licence holder for King Kebab, warn many late night customers are “heavily intoxicated” meaning premises need to employ door staff.

They say the police had to be called during an incident around six months ago, when a customer pulled out a knife.

The submission says: “The challenges with customers who behave in a disorderly manner happen every day.

“The weekends are worse with scuffles and fights on Dickson Road between 1am and 6am.”

The document adds: “From an operator perspective I have noticed that our customer base is more argumentative and unreasonable, and displays of extreme violence such as the threat with a knife mentioned earlier are no longer a rare occurrence, especially in the earlier hours of the morning.”

The second objection is from a resident of Talbot Road who says they are concerned about the number of take-aways opening in the area, with the potential to increase noise and anti-social behaviour.

The application for Ocean King says safety measures will include CCTV cameras recording 24 hours a day, further health and safety measures and customers will be asked to leave quietly in order to minimise disturbance.

The premises, which have not previously been licensed, will open from 1pm but the licence for late night refreshment is only needed for the hours after 11pm.

The application will be considered by a panel of councillors before a decision is made.