An Ilford chicken shop whose staff were pelted with ketchup bottles by violent youths last summer has had been granted permission to extend its opening hours until 3am.

Redbridge Council’s licensing committee approved an application on Thursday (April 4) submitted by Ilford Hill’s Chicken Hut to extend its opening hours until 2am Monday to Thursday and 3am on Fridays and Saturdays.

But it was granted subject to more than 20 conditions listed on a three-page document which the applicant submitted to the committee at the start of the meeting.

These include a ban on unaccompanied under-18s entering the eatery after 11pm, “except in emergencies”.

It also requires the shop to make a number of improvements to its CCTV system.

Ahead of the meeting - which was chaired by Labour councillors Namreen Chaudhry, Roy Emmett Anne Marie Sachs - police called on the committee to reject the application, citing previous incidents and a prevalence of drug dealing and child sexual exploitation in the area around Ilford Station.

“There is a likelihood that the venue will at some point attract those persons with a criminal intent who are known to frequent the area” reads the representation from PC Oisin Daly.

He adds: “There is a marked difference between trading until 11pm and 3am,” Pc Daly adds.

“The dynamics of the area around the train station change and there is a different clientele operating in the area than the one described by the applicant in their application.”

He highlighted an incident in November 2018 in which a British Transport Police officer was stabbed.

It is also where 20-year-old Che Morrison was fatally stabbed on February 26 this year.

In June 2018, police were called to a disturbance at the eatery where youths lobbed condiments at staff and attempted to punch them.

The investigation was hampered as staff could not access CCTV to hand it over to the police, saying that their manager was out of the country.

In December, a bag was reported stolen by no suspects could be identified due to the CCTV quality. The shop’s Sajjad Hussain sought to address these fears by submitting “a list of robust conditions” to prevent any “negative impact” extending the hours would have on the surrounding area.

He will ensure the CCTV system is up to the Met’s standard, will be checked on a daily basis and a member of staff trained in using it will be present at all times, according to the document.

All footage will be retained for a minimum of 31 days and will be easily downloadable.

After 11pm, a minimum two staff members must be on duty, customers will be prohibited from bringing alcohol into the shop and no more than 35 people can eat at the restaurant at one time.

The committee made some “minor variations” to the conditions, according to legal adviser Kate McCrimmon.