A RESTAURANT owner says he will appeal a decision to allow him to open until as late as 1am – even though he had asked for permission to open as late as 5am.

Asraf Uddin said it was unreasonable of Chelmsford City Council to only allow him to open until midnight Sunday to Thursday and 1am Friday and Saturday,  when businesses close by are allowed to trade until much later into the morning.

Masons and Rosas, which are just yards from Moulshi Much, both trade until as late as 3am.

The fast food restaurant, which has seating for 24 inside, has been selling a variety of food such as chicken, burgers and doner meals for about two months with a restricted licence.

Located where PFC Chicken used to stand, it had wanted permission from Chelmsford City Council’s licensing committee to extend the hours it can stay open to catch trade principally from Masons, which is allowed to open until 1am Monday to Thursday and 3am Friday and Saturday.

Rosas, another fast food restaurant just yards away, opens until 12am between Sunday and Thursday and 3am Friday and Saturday.

On Monday, Tuesday and Thursday Moulshi Munch wanted to open its doors between 11am and 3am.

On Wednesday it wanted to open between 11am and 4am and on Friday, Saturday and Sunday it wanted to open between 11am and 5am.

Mr Uddin said: “These are just next door. We will definitely appeal – we are paying quite big rates and a lot of that will go to the council.

“Otherwise everyone should get 1am. If you are talking about noise – we can hear Masons’ music from inside our restaurant.

“They close at 3am but there are still people hanging around at 5am.

“The reason we put that time is because of Masons. They close at 3am. So that’s why I wanted that time.”

The committee had heard from one resident who said the extended opening hours would impact on his sleep.

Chelmsford City Council chairman, Councillor Lance Millane, said: “The committee concluded that if the times had been granted under the terms originally applied for there would be the likelihood of local residents being subjected to public nuisance in the form of noise nuisance.”

Any appeal would be heard at a magistrates court.