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2nd July 2023
04:57pm BST
Greggs has revealed plans for to open its first-ever 24-hour shop in the UK.
We're all familiar with the joys of a 2am kebab or a trip to a 24 hour McDonald's at the end of a night out, but there may be a day in the near future when a sausage roll or steak slice could be one of the options available.
The chain has more than 2,000 locations in the UK, but Kent could be the first to get an open-all-hours store.
KentOnline reports that Greggs has applied for a 24-hour licence for a location in St George’s Street, Canterbury.
The licensing application was said to have been submitted to Canterbury City Council and the company reportedly want to provide a takeaway service between 11pm and 5am - every day of the week.
However, some council members don't seem too keen on the plans due to the risk of "anti-social behaviour."
"As it stands, we are not happy with or interested in the idea of it being a 24-hour service," Labour’s Pip Hazelton told the publication.
"We absolutely want to encourage business in the city – we want to see people thrive and make a go of it in the area.
"But barring McDonald’s, we’re not aware of any other operatives being given a 24-hour licence. It’s a slippery slope.
"People do live in the city centre and saying yes sets a dangerous precedent - when do we say no?
"St George’s Street has always somewhat suffered from anti-social behaviour.
"A lot of residents aren’t happy about existing businesses operating the way they do and ultimately the question is will the city benefit from this."
The public have been invited to give their thoughts on the plans, and will have until July 25 to do that.
A spokesperson for Greggs said they would not comment on the matter whilst the application was in process.
The news of the 24-hour application in Canterbury comes after the chain's store in Leicester Square, London, was allowed to stay open until 2am from Thursday to Saturday.
This was following a lengthy dispute with the council due concerns over antisocial behaviour.
Greggs had hoped for this store to be allowed to stay open all hours, but in the end they settled for the extended hours Thursday to Saturday and until midnight for the rest of the week.
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