A bid to turn a former Faversham restaurant into a late-night pizza takeaway has been blasted as “highly inappropriate” for the area.

The town council is among a string of objectors who fear plans for the old Saddlers steak house and Rum Bar in Market Place are out of keeping with the historic setting.

Applicant Mustafa Jabarheil has submitted his proposals for the site, which is on the corner of the town’s main square on the junction of West Street, to Swale Borough Council.

He is hoping to launch a new business from the historic unit and operate from 11am until 2am every day. The proposals involve the installation of a pizza oven, fryers, serving counter and extractor fan.

About 25 concerned residents have lodged objections to the application, with the late-night opening hours being among the key concern.

They fear it will “cheapen” the town and are urging the borough council to throw out the scheme.

Resident Chris Oswald-Jones has labelled the 2am closure “outrageous”.

Neighbour Jeremy Pickering, who lives in West Street, said: “Late night takeaways are a magnet for antisocial behaviour, noise disturbance, litter etc.

“Faversham is a quiet town with a considerable number of residents living in the centre.”

Fellow critic Richard Stiller said: “Do we really need another takeaway as the town is nothing but takeaways and coffee shops - enough is enough.”

In a letter of objection, the Faversham Society - a heritage group aiming to preserve the town’s history - wrote: “The use of this building as a hot food takeaway is likely to result in delivery vehicles to take food to customers and further demand for parking in the Market Place.

“By introducing many more moving and parking vehicles, including delivery vehicles, the proposal will create visual, acoustic and safety impacts that will harm the established character of the town centre, which is a predominantly quiet, pedestrian place in the evening.”

Those behind the plans, however, are confident the pizza takeaway can blend in with the historic town and not feel out of place.

“We have carefully considered this proposal in relation to its conservation area setting during the refurb process,” planning documents state.

“While we recognise the importance of the conservation area setting, operation of the takeaway isn’t expected to have any impact on the historic value of the area.

“We have carefully considered the amount and location of the proposed work in relation to the historic elements of the area.”

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