A TAVISTOCK kebab shop looks set to reduce its opening hours after nearby residents claimed their lives were being blighted by the anti-social behaviour of drunken revellers coming in for a late night snack. Residents in King Street appealed to licensing authority West Devon Borough Council to reconsider a late night licence to serve food at the Devon Kebab House. The licensing committee last Wednesday heard that excessive noise levels and rowdy behaviour until 2.30am and beyond was causing people, including many elderly residents, to lose sleep and even be ill. The King Street and Area Residents' Action Group cited examples of obscene language, violence, drunkenness and aggression outside the shop and even urinating in streets and doorways. The Devon Kebab House was granted a license from November 24 last year to provide late night refreshments from 11.30pm to 12.30am on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays; 11pm to 1.15am on Thursdays; 11pm to 2.15pm on Fridays and Saturdays; and between 11pm and 1pm on Sundays. But after hearing the case the licensing committee decided the food outlet should now only be open to 12.30am each night. Rob Burns, chairman of the action group, said a meeting in July, involving the owners of the shop, Kazim Gul and Memet Koc, residents' representatives, the licensing and environmental health departments and the police had failed to resolve the issue. He said he recognised that the kebab shop owners were not responsible for the anti-social behaviour but he wanted the hours reduced to 11pm. One resident said: 'This is a very serious problem. For the last 18 months I have had the problem of not being able to sleep on a Friday and Saturday night.' 'When the Devon Kebab House is not open we have a quiet night's sleep. We are respectfully asking you to let us live a normal life.' Marian Greenaway, of West Devon Homes, the organisation which runs Pinder Court, a residential block of apartments for the elderly which is close to the shop, said some residents were severely depressed because of the situation and many had even asked to be transferred from their homes. Police had recorded a catalogue of incidents and Steve Bustin, the police licensing officer, said they would support the appeal by the action group on the grounds of crime and disorder. Sgt Bob Hughes said the police had 'no carte blanche' to move people on. Borough council environmental health officer Dave Sexton measured the level of noise and said a problem would start at 30 decibels, but in King Street this was measured on busy nights at 50 to 60 decibels. Miss K Smoker, who represented the kebab shop owners, submitted that the premises had operated as a late night food outlet for approximately ten years. If, she said, there was a limitation to 11pm it would reduce the hours of business considerably and loss of custom would mean the shop would 'cease to be viable.' She told the panel the Devon Kebab House was not responsible for the anti-social behaviour. 'The major factor for what is happening is the consumption of alcohol. There are a number of establishments in the area where alcohol can be consumed on and off the premises and alcohol leads to anti-social behaviour,' said Miss Smoker. She put much of the high noise levels down to the fact that the streets were narrow and the way the buildings were constructed amplified sound. West Devon Borough Councillor Dennis Bater issued a notice of determination, saying the licence would be amended. He said it would be reduced to 12.30am on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays; that the kebab shop should install an extra CCTV camera in or outside its premises and that a notice should be displayed in the window asking the customers to leave the premises quietly. Both the King Street and Area Residents' Action Group and the kebab shop owners have 21 days to launch an appeal against the decision.
