Scarborough's KFC in Eastfield applies for new licence to open until 3am at busy and congested Morrisons site

Alderforce Limited wants the premises licence for the KFC outlet on Market Lane in Eastfield, which shares the site with Morrisons.

The restaurant wants to extend its opening hours and the period of time it can sell food and refreshments to customers into the early hours of the morning.

KFC's drive-thru and restaurant are currently open between 10.30am and 11pm Monday to Sunday, but it now wants to extend this to between 10am and 3am Monday to Sunday.

The application said that "late night refreshment", which refers to the supply of hot food or hot drink to the public for consumption on or off the premises, will be available between 11pm and 3am Monday to Sunday.

KFC opened its doors for the first time in April this year after several delays to the construction process during the pandemic, which saw developer Rothstone Estates sell the site to Adil Group.

The development involved demolishing the Papa's Fish and Chips restaurant, formerly The Scarborough public house, which created 24 new jobs.

The Eastfield site is also home to a Costa Coffee, McDonald's and Morrisons

Since opening, residents have raised their concerns online over an increase in traffic and congestion with long queues backing onto the main road a common sight for shoppers trying to access the supermarket, and customers who want to purchase fast food becoming caught in the same gridlock.

Morrisons anticipated that the traffic situation would deteriorate once the new refreshment outlets opened and applied to Scarborough Council to create a new supermarket entrance in May last year.

The retailer wants to build a new filter lane on Market Lane for drivers who want to turn left into McDonald's rather than right into the supermarket car park at the mini-roundabout.

Plans were approved with conditions in July 2021 but work on the proposals has not yet started.

Morrisons told The Scarborough News it "hopes to get started on the works this summer to improve access to the site for our customers".

Scarborough Council has now put the application out for consultation. The closing date for representations is June 22.

For more information, view the application here.