A city centre takeaway is bidding to stay open until 1am, amid accusations from a rival of “abusive” staff and “dangerous” parking problems.
Councillors will decide next week whether Chickalicious, in Grainger Street, can push back its closing time by two hours.
But one neighbouring business has urged Newcastle City Council to refuse the application - warning of a string of problems with the takeaway.
Chickalicious’ owner has insisted that the allegations are “baseless”, ahead of a council licensing hearing next Tuesday.
Albert Harding, of the neighbouring Town House cafe, claims that Chickalicious staff were "abusive" towards a customer who tried to return an uncooked burger.
In an objection lodged with the council, he said: "This upset the man and tensions were running high. That same night the windows of the shop were covered in flour, eggs, and other ingredients. This was all recorded on the CCTV from the surrounding businesses.
"The following day the premises of Chickalicious were again covered in grass and other earthly debris from the church opposite. Grass and soil were also posted through the letter box of the property. The window of the property was also broken."
Mr Harding also accuses the takeaway’s staff and customers of parking dangerously and illegally around the site, says that neighbouring businesses have been flooded because of blocked drains caused by Chickalicious discarding oil improperly, and complains of the smell emanating from the building.
But Chickalicious owner Omar Farooq said Mr Harding’s comments were “baseless accusations” for which no evidence had been presented to the council.
He added that there was a high demand from customers for his restaurant to stay open later, and that doing so could also allow staff to keep the area tidier.
Mr Farooq added: “When we are not open late we often come back to a lot of mess outside in the morning. Being there until 1am will mean we are able to clean up more.
“I think we will help the area. We will have a security guard on the door and that will be a deterrent to people littering or anything else. And we will have our team cleaning.”
Amid a further objection from city council licensing boss Jonathan Bryce over a takeaway-style service hatch, Mr Farooq insisted that Chickalicious is “predominantly a restaurant”.
The council’s licensing sub-committee will also determine next Tuesday whether the Burger King in Clayton Street can extend its hours until 1am too.
One neighbour objecting to those plans said that the area is already has “strong problems” with noise and anti-social behaviour and that allowing Burger King to stay open later “can only degrade further the current problems in the street”.
