Bid to extend hours for Bognor kebab outlet rejected

Councillors said the Charcoal Grill could not become the first fast food outlet in the town to stay open that late.

Operator Hatun Oksaroglu had applied for a new premises licence with the extended opening at the Station Road business on Saturdays and for 3.30am closing on Fridays.

Arun District Council's licensing sub-committee instead re-imposed the current opening hours of 3am on both mornings.

They also rejected Mrs Oksaroglu's bid to open until 2am on Sundays by keeping the closing time an hour earlier.

However, they did agree to an extra hour's opening '“ until 2am on Mondays and Tuesdays '“ and two hours more until 3am on Thursdays. She will now be able to open 30 minutes later on Wednesdays until 3am.

The sub-committee's members also told Mrs Oksaroglu to install CCTV to enable customers on the pavement to be seen and avoid the need for costly door supervisors to be employed.

Their decision was made after a heated hearing in which Mrs Oksaroglu's husband, Ali, speaking on her behalf, argued with the police about the desirability of the longer hours.

"There are extended disco hours at the Mud Club and Sheiks (now Visions) and we need to serve these people.

"If we don't serve them, we are struggling. If the clubs close at 1am, I close at 2am. If they close at midnight, I close at 1am," said Mr Oksaroglu, who opened the restaurant and takeway in 1989 as West Sussex's first kebab shop.

"There are now another eight kebab shops in the town. We are the furthest from the discos and we need about 30 minutes for people from them to walk up to our shop. We are desperate to serve these people.

"Our gas and electricity bills are going up double and double again. Our business tax is also going up.

"If I employ two doormen at 20 an hour each, I end up with nothing from opening later."

He claimed there was no trouble around his business, though he closed his restaurant in the early hours of the morning because of the potential for fights.

"These people will still be there even if I am not. If I serve them nicely, they go home straight away. If I don't serve them, they are hanging around banging on my door," he claimed.

PC Dave Whitcombe, a licensing officer of Sussex Police, said he had held ten meetings with Mr Oksaroglu to discuss the police demand for three doormen at the Charcoal Grill if it opened later. But they had failed to settle the dispute.

PC Whitcombe said incidents of disorder around Station Road had risen in the past two years as some crimes had been displaced from The Esplanade as the seafront had been made safer.

He commented: "Crime and disorder in Station Road is increasing. We don't want to make that situation worse. Mr Oksaroglu can't have fewer than two doormen."

"To put one doorman in that situation would be a dangerous thing to do.

"He has got to have the support and back-up of at least one other doorman.

"The kebab shop will be the only one open until 4am. There could be 400-600 people from the clubs around at that time. Any one of them could potentially be a customer."

Sub-committee member Cllr Jeanette Warr said she believed Mr Oksaroglu was being penalised for a situation which might happen outside his business.

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