Greggs prepares for court fight at plans for 24-hour sales at Leicester Square branch were banned

Greggs is preparing to take Westminster Council to court after it was banned from selling late night hot food at its flagship Leicester Square store.

The bakery chain was denied permission to sell hot food 24 hours a day last year after police claimed it could lead to a wave of ‘crime and disorder’ in its West End branch. 

The Newcastle-based company is currently in ‘mediation talks’ with Westminster Council but is set to appeal the ban at a three-day court hearing between May 16 to 18. 

Food that is sold hot requires a licence to be sold between 11pm and 5am. 

This is due to the belief that outlets selling hot food – such as takeaways – are more likely to attract ‘alcohol-fuelled crime and disorder’. 

Drag queen Pasty Kween attends the opening of Greggs’ flagship Leicester Square store last July 

Greggs’ sausage rolls and pasties do not technically qualify as hot food as they are sold in an unheated cabinet, so can be sold throughout the night. 

But other items that are kept heated, such as chicken goujons and potato wedges, are counted as hot food so cannot be sold at night without a licence. 

Greggs’ Leicester Square outlet opened to much fanfare last summer with an opening event modelled on a glitzy film premiere. 

However, plans for it to serve hot food around the clock led to complaints from the Met, Environmental Health, three local Westminster councillors and one resident. 

‘It is our belief that if granted, the application could undermine the licensing objectives in relation to the prevention of crime and disorder,’ the Met said in its application.

In response Greggs warned its customers could become ‘confused’ by the limited menu options post-11pm, which could spark further trouble. 

In addition to using CCTV cameras and employing security to man the doors, Greggs also pledged to clamp down on any excess waste building up outside the bakery. 

Westminster Council said its licensing committee ‘refused to grant the application on policy grounds’ because Greggs had ‘failed to demonstrate exceptional reasons as to why the application would not have a negative impact on the West End’.

The bakery chain was denied permission to sell hot food 24 hours a day last year after police claimed it could lead to a wave of ‘crime and disorder’ in its West End branch

The council added: ‘Greggs would need to try to convince the court that their evidence provides exceptional reasons for allowing the Premises to operate until 5am, despite being located in a cumulative impact zone.’

The flagship branch, which has a floor space of 1,560 sq ft (145 sq m), is located next to M&Ms World and opposite the Lego Store in the heart of London’s West End. It was previously a branch of the Turkish bakery chain Simit Sarayi.

The Newcastle-based company has been focusing on opening stores in prime areas of London over the past few years, with the new outlet following shops on The Strand, Canary Wharf, Paddington, St Pancras and Kings Cross.

The bakery chain is set to open 150 new stores in Britain over the next year which will take the total to nearly 2,500 – but the flagship at 1 Leicester Square has quickly established itself as its most prestigious.