A LICENCE application for a Quay Street takeaway to stay open until 4.30am on weekends and Wednesdays has been deferred yet again.

Pembrokeshire County Council's licensing sub-committee was due to discuss the controversial application on Thursday, February 26th .

However the applicant, Mr Nicholas Heywood, asked for it to be adjourned so that he could make a submission in response to another late night application on Castle Square.

Dyfed-Powys Police licensing officer, Nigel Hayes, pointed out that this was the third time that the application had been deferred.

He said that the letter about the other premises was completely irrelevant to this application and that this must be the last time the matter was adjourned.

The Quay Street premises was previously run as a takeaway but has been closed for some time. The application to reopen it as an early hours eatery has attracted condemnation from both the police and the council's licensing compliance team.

A report by the licensing compliance team raises concerns about the amount of people in the area and the premises' location in a 'cumulative impact' area. It says the use of CCTV and doormen as suggested would do little to prevent disorder.

It refers to three licensed premises on Quay Street which can result in around 1,000 people leaving at around 3.30am and who are likely to use the takeaway.

It adds: "The premises is small and not able to accommodate significant numbers of people waiting to be served, adding to congestion issues. The opening of 1 Quay Street with the hours applied for can only serve to encourage significant numbers of intoxicated individuals to remain at that crowded choke point."

The report adds: "This is the wrong location for a premises of this type and there is very little that can be done to prevent incidents of crime, nuisance and disorder being generated by it."

Police licensing officer Nigel Hayes adds: "The police will contend that the hours applied for are excessive and the impact on this area into the early hours of the morning will be extremely detrimental to the town."

Licensing sub-committee chairman, Cllr Wynne Evans agreed to adjourn the application to the next meeting but agreed that this must be the final time.