Newcastle’s Taco Bell will be allowed to stay open for just one extra hour, after the Mexican-themed restaurant dropped plans to offer 24/7 service.
The Grainger Street eatery, which opened in 2018, had urged city council bosses to let it keep its doors open all day, every day.
But those plans were abandoned earlier this week amid opposition from Northumbria Police, who warned that the area can already become a “flashpoint for violence and disorder” in the early hours as drinkers leave pubs and clubs around the Bigg Market.
Taco Bell then proposed a 3.30am closing time to a council licensing panel on Tuesday, arguing that would bring its closing time in line with the Mushroom nightclub next door and would not act as an “anchor” for drunken revellers looking for a takeaway at the end of their night out.
But councillors have also rejected that request, instead granting Taco Bell just an extra hour on its late night refreshment licence – from midnight to 1am.
Newcastle City Council’s licensing sub-committee said that any “significantly later opening for the provision of late night refreshment will negatively impact on the licensing objectives of prevention of crime and disorder and prevention of public nuisance”.
Both police and committee members raised concerns this week that Taco Bell’s clientele would change later at night, potentially turning it from a dine-in restaurant to more of a takeaway-based business.
But solicitor Chris Grunert, representing Taco Bell, said it was “undoubtedly a well run premises” and that the objections were based on “fears” rather than actual evidence.
He argued: “We do this in large metropolitan areas in other cities, in late night trading areas, and we do it successfully. We do not suddenly transform into a takeaway in the evening.”
Northumbria Police sergeant Julie Cottiss warned that it was “inevitable” that there would be problems associated with Taco Bell if it was allowed to stay open and that the late hours would mean it attracted more drunken customers.
