Fears over 24-hour Burger King on pub crawl route

Plans to open a fast food restaurant 24 hours a day have sparked concerns over increased nuisance behaviour on a notorious pub crawl.

Burger King, at 18 Headingley Central, currently opens between 08:00 and 23:00 every day, but has has applied to Leeds City Council to trade around the clock.

The outlet is on the route of the Otley Run – which draws thousands of drinkers to the area at weekends – and is just a few doors down from the site of a planned new McDonald's.

The application is to be considered at a licensing hearing at Leeds Civic Hall on 25 March.

The council received 28 letters of objection to Burger King's licence application, with people complaining of rowdy, drunken crowds vomiting and urinating in the street.

There are 19 pubs and bars that take part in the Otley Run.

One objector said: "I don't see the need for 24-hour burgers."

Another said: "The Otley Run passes through Headingley and there is a growing trend for 'afters', which entails going for takeaway food after the pub crawl.

"Burger King has clearly spotted a commercial opportunity that exists after midnight, with little consideration for the residential community."

Tim Goodall, Headingley Green Party councillor, who was among the objectors, said there had been "many problems around fast food restaurants in the city centre related to alcohol consumption".

He said he feared the same combination "could cause similar anti-social behaviour in Headingley".

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, West Yorkshire Police initially raised a formal objection, but withdrew it after measures were agreed to prevent public nuisance.

Full planning permission for a new McDonald's restaurant, planned for 22-24 Headingley Central, was granted by Leeds City Council in February.

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