Pasty and sausage roll chain Greggs is to appeal a council’s decision to prevent its flagship central London store selling hot food past 11pm after police warned of the risk of fuelling “crime and disorder”.
The high-street baker opened its Leicester Square store with a blue-carpet premiere in 2022 – but Westminster City Council denied the store permission to serve hot food 24 hours a day.
Now it will appeal against the decision to refuse an extended licence during a three-day hearing at Westminster Magistrates’ Court from May 16.
A spokesperson for Greggs said: “Greggs have been trying to extend their licence in order to serve hot food until later, around 3am, because it’s really in line with what local peers and restaurants are doing.
“There are restaurants down the road that are open until 3am serving their customers hot food at all hours, Greggs are very keen to be able to offer customers their hot food favourites until that time.”
The ban applies to Greggs’ hot food menu, which requires extra licensing due to the fact food is kept hot in store, but does not include the Greggs staple products of sausage rolls and pasties which are baked elsewhere and reheated in stores.
Instead, the appeal involves recently launched menu items such as potato wedges, chicken goujons, BBQ chicken bites and hot baguettes, which require special permissions from local authorities to be sold between 11pm and 5am.
Westminster City Council refused Greggs this licence in July 2022, saying: “The sub-committee concluded that the application would have the likely effect of an increase in crime and disorder in the area and an increased demand on police resources which are already stretched.”
Minutes from the licensing committee show that Metropolitan Police officer Thomas Stewart raised concerns that “a rise in licensable activities such as late-night refreshment could lead to an increase in criminal activities and anti-social behaviour”.
The licensing sub-committee added that Greggs had “failed to demonstrate how by selling hot food or hot drink in the West End cumulative impact zone that this would not add to negative cumulative impact and promote the licensing objectives”.
Westminster Council told the Evening Standard that in order to successfully appeal against the ban “Greggs would need to try to convince the court that their evidence provides exceptional reasons for allowing the premises to operate until 5am, despite being located in a cumulative impact zone”.