A kebab van owner in east Bristol has won permission to open from 7am until late - despite fears it will operate as a breakfast trailer and put three similar nearby traders out of business. South Gloucestershire Council granted a street trading licence for Max’s Kebabs in Longwell Green after hearing that competition was not a valid reason to refuse the application.
Owner Mehmet Isitmen told a licensing hearing that he applied for an early morning start as a “last-minute thought” to give him options, because a new landowner where his current Marmaris kebab van is on the other side of Gallagher Retail Park had asked him to leave. Mr Isitmen said he was trying to resolve the issue so he could stay there and that, if he could, he would consider running both hot-food trailers, at either end of Aldermoor Way.
Marmaris is near Costa Coffee and Max’s Kebabs will be next to Lidl. A breakfast van trader, who was not named, objected to the application with concerns that a fourth similar mobile outlet in the shopping area would be too many for them all to survive.
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Mr Isitmen told the licensing sub-committee on Thursday, April 18: “The reason he objected to me being there was him losing trade, but if somebody trusts their food, they shouldn't have to worry about it, you shouldn't object to someone opening up.”
He said his initial plan was to apply for a street trading licence near Lidl and then he decided to ask for that to be an all-day licence from 7am through until 1am, and 2am on Friday and Saturday.
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“I might not have included in [the application form] that I might be doing bacon, sausage, eggs, it was a last-minute thought,” Mr Isitmen added. There were no objections from any of the authorities, including the police and environmental health.
