Pepe's Piri Piri in Musselburgh denied late licence after 17 police call outs in one year

An East Lothian chicken shop has been denied a late licence after police were called out 17 times in the past year.

Pepe’s Piri Piri on Musselburgh’s High Street applied to East Lothian Council to extend its trading hours to midnight through the week and 1am on a Friday and Saturday.

Having heard evidence of anti-social behaviour and disturbances including multiple police calls in the last year, councillors agreed that public safety would not be served by extending hours.

An agent for the owner of the franchise, Atif Ali, said the number of police calls was evidence of how seriously management took public and staff safety.

The agent offered to accept a licence extension for a shorter period than the normal two-year licence, to monitor behaviour.

He added that his client was not minded to comply with a police request for trained door security at the venue because of the high costs, but would do so if need was shown.

The agent pointed out that there had been no trouble at the High Street business since March, and added that there had been no public objections to the application.

A police officer told a meeting of the council’s Licensing Sub Committee there had been 17 calls relating to youth anti-social behaviour in the last year.

“Within these 17 calls, there’s been theft and assault of a member of the public outside the store. I’m not saying that’s the store’s fault, that could be linked to the demographic attracted.”

The officer added: “There’s been an assault on staff and vandalism to the store and a lot of issues with youths creating a nuisance to staff and then refusing to leave the store.”

Councillor Lee-Anne Menzies told Mr Ali, who attended the meeting with his agent: “I feel for you and your staff. I’ve witnessed a couple of concerns in the High Street, and it’s not just at your store and against your staff.

“I don’t believe the late opening of this or any fast food takeaway is going to add to the benefit of the people of Musselburgh,” she added.

Staying open to 1am would just “kick the issues two hours down the line” when police have even fewer resources with the pubs emptying out, said Councillor Menzies.

She added that she understood that trained security staff would not be cheap but added: “Police time is not cheap either. For all of these reasons, because of the demographic that uses Pepe’s and other fast food takeaways, it is going to attract the very people that are problematic. I cannot accept the application even for a short term.”

Provost John McMillan, chairing the cub committee, referred to the cumulative evidence of police calls and said: “I think if we had evidence longer than March it would have helped. I do hope that behaviour in Musselburgh High Street will change.

“I think, given the situation and I know the feelings of many residents and all of the councillors, I find it difficult to support this even as an experiment, so I too would not vote to grant at this time.”