A bid to allow 24-hour alcohol sales at a convenience store in Farnham town centre has been blocked over concerns about noise, litter, deliveries and the impact of upcoming roadworks.

Members of Waverley Borough Council’s Licensing Sub-Committee instead approved limited late-night alcohol and food sales for The Local Farnham on The Borough, following a hearing earlier this week.

The original application by Manpreet Singh had sought permission to sell alcohol 24 hours a day, seven days a week, alongside late-night refreshment from 11pm to 5am, with opening hours listed as midnight to midnight, seven days a week.

The site already operates under an existing premises licence for the sale of alcohol from 7am to 10pm daily, which would have been changed if the new application had been approved.

Farnham Town Council lodged a formal objection, warning the proposals could lead to increased public nuisance from late-night footfall, vehicles stopping on The Borough, noise, anti-social behaviour and litter, particularly affecting residents living above shops.

The council also warned the proposal would harm the character of the town centre conservation area, where no businesses currently operate throughout the night.

In its objection letter, the town council raised concerns over front-of-store deliveries on The Borough, saying nuisance had already been caused at the site and warning that deliveries could increase significantly under 24-hour opening.

It also highlighted the impact of the Farnham Infrastructure Programme, under which this eastern section of The Borough will be reduced to a single vehicle lane with no stopping and widened footways from January.

Speaking on behalf of the town council, Cllr George Hesse said: “There are a lot of issues at stake here. There is no precedent in The Borough for 24-hour trading at the moment. To extend the opening hours basically for alcohol to a 24-hour trading scenario is a huge extension. One questions why they would want to go out to buy alcohol at those sort of hours.

“The late night refreshment till 5am will involve food Deliveroo and other firms coming and going. Scooters make a noise, they make plenty of noise, which you can hear in the daytime when there’s other traffic around.

“But after 11 or 12 at night, scooters coming in a confined space like The Borough, probably one of the narrowest streets in the Farnham town centre area, will just be amplified.

“I think it would be disastrous for local residents, he added.

He said that litter was a persistent problem in the town centre, and that much of it came from people buying food to eat on the move and dropping the packaging wherever they pleased.

So Cllr Hesse believed 24-hour trading at Mr Singh’s story woud “bring about an increase in litter.”

Mr Singh told councillors the application was made to protect his business following a sharp drop in footfall caused by road closures.

“This is why I want to increase my business because what the road closure did is stop people coming into town. People got into a habit of shopping in other towns because the shopping patterns have changed,” he said.

There were also late-night noise issues in the town centre.

“The local area has quite a few pubs with licences – just across the road there are four or five pubs – with licences to 2.30am,” said Mr Singh.

“They have live music events all the time going on. We are not causing any noise, we are just selling alcohol so people can come and have their time at home.”

He said he had received no complaints from neighbours, claiming most customers arrive on foot, and that no late-night deliveries would take place after 10pm.

However, the committee ruled that alcohol sales would only be extended from 11pm to 1am Sunday to Thursday and from 11pm to 3am on Fridays and Saturdays.

Strict delivery conditions were also imposed. All deliveries must take place between 6am and 10pm, while online delivery platforms such as Deliveroo must cease at 1am from Sunday to Thursday and 1.30am on Fridays and Saturdays.

Announcing the decision, Cllr Michael Goodridge said restrictions were partly because of issues concerning access during the roadworks.

“The reason for restricting the hours of opening at present is the uncertainty about the road access due to the road improvements in The Borough,” he said.

Mr Singh was told he has the right of appeal to the magistrates’ court within 21 days of receiving the decision.