COLCHESTER’S fifth McDonald’s has applied for a licence to operate a late night service at its new Turner Rise Retail Park location.

If successful, it will be the third 24-hour McDonalds in Colchester.

The other 24 hour McDonalds in Colchester are located at Leisure World and Stadium Junction.

The restaurants at the Tollgate and Colchester High Street are not currently operating 24 hours.

The company applied to Colchester Council’s licensing committee for the extended hours.

Councillor Martin Goss raised concerns about the application.

He said: "In the planning documents, they said they were planning to make it a 24-hour store.

“At the time, there were well over 200 objections including some from me.

"My objections were surrounding issues of boy racers in the area causing late night disturbances.

“If you look back in history, Turner Rise Retail Park was the first site in the country to have a Public Space Protection Order.

“We are looking to consider several areas around town including Turner Rise, because they are all areas these uncaring people, who are disinterested in community relations, are causing havoc.

“My concern is that from being open at 11pm at night, the problems of litter, boy racing and noise will be exacerbated."

A spokesperson for McDonalds said: "We are excited to be opening our new store at Turner Rise later this year.

"We take our responsibility to the community seriously and conduct regular daily litter patrols around the local area.

"All of the McDonald’s in Colchester support local litter picking events and campaigns through Colchester BID, Essex County Council and Cleaner Essex and we will extend this to Turner Rise.

"We will be working with local stakeholders to make sure that the restaurant is a safe and welcoming environment for our customers in the hours we decide to operate."

Colchester Council is currently accepting comments allowing residents to have their say on whether they believe the new licence should be granted.

To have your say on the licence, visit bit.ly/3RQ3FiQ.