A chicken shop's plan to open into the early hours has been turned down over concerns about anti-social behaviour.

Rochester Chicken Hut in the High Street asked Medway Council if it could open until 4am on Fridays and Saturdays.

Its request was met with objections from residents and politicians who said it would contribute to problems caused by revellers after the town's nightlife venues had closed.

On other nights, it wanted to stay open until 12.30am and 2am on Thursdays.

Councillors were asked to consider the proposals during a meeting of the authority's licensing hearing panel this morning.

The applicant's agent, Leonard Appleby, explained how measures including staff on the door after midnight and regular litter picks would be implemented.

But the police said this was not enough to prevent "public disorder".

They also told councillors how in the space of a month during the summer, 47 incidents had occurred either inside or near the takeaway, with a noticable increase in disturbances after 3am.

PC Ian Pickett said: "I believe the application is a perfect example of a poorly-written application with no research."

MP Kelly Tolhurst also wrote to the authority to object to the plans.

Ward councillor Stuart Tranter (Con) said he had seen people being served food at 1.30am, beyond its current allowed opening hours.

He said of his residents living in and around the High Street: "They expect to hear signs of life in the evenings, especially at weekends, but that is not reasonable throughout the entire night, especially if that includes shouting, swearing, criminal damage, and other antisocial activities such as littering or even urinating in the streets.

"All will testify this gets worse the later it gets, so we should be encouraging visitors to head home when the hour is late and not to extend their visit throughout the night."

Mr Appleby said his client, Mahesan Varatharajaperumal, had only opened late around 10 times since taking over the shop six months ago because he was finding it hard to remove people from the premises come closing time.

He also conceded he thought the application would be turned down but said they were already too far ahead in the process to withdraw.

PC Chris Hill added: "I can see no conditions that could be added to this licence that would in any way minimise the risks highlighted by not only ourselves at Kent Police, but also the residents and Public Heath, planning, and councillors."

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