A Burger King location in Edinburgh will be allowed to open 24 hours a day after a decision by Edinburgh councillors.
At a licensing board meeting on Monday, the fast food joint in Fort Kinnaird was given permission to run its drive through all night seven days a week, with the indoor restaurant closing at 11.
The location currently opens at 10.00am and closes at 11.00pm every day of the week.
A lawyer representing Burger King told councillors the firm was applying for 14 of its restaurants across Scotland to get all night drive through trading, including the Fort Kinnaird site.
He pointed to the example of a nearby McDonalds with a 24 hour drive through as a case where a similar application was granted.
According to the lawyer, the target market for the all night drive through is late shift and blue light workers trying to find food overnight, as well as motorists travelling up the nearby A1.
He said: “What [Burger King] sees is shift workers, taxi drivers, blue light services, people who won’t be able to get a hot bite to eat.
“It’s a short diversion [off the A1] to nip off and visit this. It’s completely different to the types of customer movement you would get in a tiny city centre type scenario.”
Councillors discussed concerns over impact on a set of residences near the Burger King site.
Liberal Democrat councillor Neil Ross asked the lawyer: “I’m not familiar with the exact location within Fort Kinnaird, with the premise, but perhaps you might know how far away the nearest residential area is?”
The lawyer replied: “Rough stick, you’re talking about half a mile. I don’t think there’s anything that’s really next to it or nearby.”
Labour councillor Margaret Graham replied, saying that there were a series of cottages nearby to the location on Newcraighall Road. These houses sit about 120 metres northeast of the Burger King’s location.
She continued: “You would have to take a quite convoluted route to avoid these cottages in quite a lot of circumstances, depending on what part of the city you are coming from.”
Committee convener and Conservative councillor Jo Mowat replied: “I think it depends where you are coming from. There are other ways that people would access that part [of the site].
“I do not pretend to be an expert on the necessity of driving through at these hours, but I hear that there is a demand for that for people who are shift working or working late.”
She proceeded to ask a Police Scotland representative present if there were policing issues with the 24 hour McDonald’s nearby, who told her there were none.
Councillors then agreed the granting of a late hours catering license, which allows the company to keep the drive through open for 24 hours, or other hours that they wish.
By Joseph Sullivan Local Democracy Reporter
The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) is a public service news agency. It is funded by the BBC, provided by the local news sector (in Edinburgh that is Reach plc (the publisher behind Edinburgh Live and The Daily Record) and used by many qualifying partners. Local Democracy Reporters cover news about top-tier local authorities and other public service organisations.
