Taco Bell wants to stay open until 3am at its London Road branch in Brighton, and Sussex Police and the council’s own licensing team are against it. A council licensing panel will decide on Monday 2 November 2026.
The restaurant at 134-135 London Road already has a licence to deliver food until 3am, but after midnight it can only serve delivery orders. The application would let people also walk in and buy takeaway food until 3am.
The operator, Karali QSR Limited, has changed its request since it applied. Here is what is on the table, who objects and why, based on the council papers published for the hearing.
What Taco Bell is asking for, and what changed
Under its current licence, Taco Bell is open from 10am to midnight. Between midnight and 3am it may only fulfil delivery orders made by phone, app or website. Walk-ins, dine-in and takeaway are not allowed in those hours.
The application asked to open to the public until 3am. The council report on the agenda says that after talks with Sussex Police the plan was changed, so customers could dine in until 2.30am and then have 30 minutes to finish their meals and leave, with takeaway sales to 3am.
A later submission from the operator, added to the papers in an addendum, goes further. It says dine-in would stop at 12.30am, tables and chairs would be cleared, and after that the restaurant would run as a takeaway and delivery business only until 3am.
Taco Bell does not sell alcohol, and the application is for late-night food only.
Why Sussex Police object
Sussex Police told the council it cannot support the variation and asked the panel to consider refusing it. Its representation, dated 11 September 2026, gives these main reasons.
The area. London Road is inside the council’s Special Stress Area, which the licensing policy describes as having relatively high levels of crime, disorder and nuisance.
The numbers. Police said there were 496 incidents in the 12 months to 7 September 2026 within 200 metres of London Road and its side roads. The figure covers violence, anti-social behaviour, public order and criminal damage. Police said most happened in the daytime, and that opening into the early hours would add footfall and more demand on police.
The policy. The licensing policy supports fast food premises in this area only until midnight for walk-ins, with deliveries until 2am. Police said Taco Bell already has hours above that, and that a mainstream fast food restaurant has no exceptional circumstances.
Operator history. Police said the restaurant does not qualify as a “good operator” under the policy, partly because its licence is less than three years old. They also listed two breaches since the licence was granted. An inspection on 15 May 2025 found no security risk assessment and no staff training, both licence conditions. On 14 January 2026 police issued a further breach over repeated problems getting CCTV from the venue.
What the police said about the conditions
Police said that if the panel is minded to grant the variation, it should add stronger security conditions than the one the applicant first offered.
“Sussex Police is unable to support this variation application, and we invite the Licensing Authority to seriously consider refusing it to ensure the licensing objectives are promoted as well as the local authorities own licensing policy.”
Sussex Police licensing representation, 11 September 2026
The conditions police asked for were at least one SIA registered door supervisor whenever the restaurant trades past midnight until it closes, plus a contract for a mobile support unit with at least two SIA door supervisors whenever it is open to the public.
The council licensing team also objects
The council’s licensing team, acting as a responsible authority, also objected on the grounds of preventing crime and disorder and preventing public nuisance. Its representation is dated 23 September 2026.
The team said the application contradicts the licensing policy and that Taco Bell has not shown exceptional circumstances. It said the policy matrix says no late-night takeaways beyond midnight, with deliveries until 2am, in the Special Stress Area, and that the premises already has a licence beyond that.
The team asked the panel to decide whether the operator has shown exceptional circumstances to depart from the policy.
The council report asks the panel to determine the application and does not recommend an outcome.
What the operator says
Karali QSR Limited says it operates around 40 Taco Bell restaurants in the UK, and also runs The Real Greek, Côte Brasserie and Crosstown Doughnuts. Its submission says Taco Bell has traded at the address since 1 November 2021 with no incidents linked to the premises.
The company points to the nearby KFC on London Road, which it says is licensed for takeaway and delivery until 3am with dine-in until 12.30am after a contested hearing. It says its revised plan mirrors that position.
It also lists temporary event notices it has used for late opening. They include Pride weekend in August 2026, when it says it opened until 4am with two SIA door supervisors. It says all of them went ahead without incident.
On the breaches, its operations lead says he accepts and regrets the criticism that not everything was in place by 15 May 2025. He says the issue was dealt with the next day at a meeting with police, and that the CCTV problem was down to the wrong recording format and was fixed.
Karali says it will accept all the conditions proposed by Sussex Police and the licensing team. It has also offered two more: after 12.30am customers may only order, collect and leave, with no seating, and a late-night safeguarding procedure with a designated delivery host who manages queues, moves people on and keeps an incident log.
How Taco Bell compares with other late-night food on London Road
Sussex Police’s representation listed other food businesses on London Road and their closing times. We have put them in one graphic, free to save and share.
Taco Bell’s current licence for late-night refreshment already runs to 3am, but only for delivery after midnight. The operator says KFC is the closest comparison.
What we do not know yet
The decision. The panel meets at 10am on Monday 2 November and its decision was not published when we wrote this.
Police position. The papers do not say whether Sussex Police still objects now that the operator has revised its plan. The operator says it has agreed the police conditions, but police have not said they now support the application.
The final plan. The council report describes dining in until 2.30am, while the operator’s later submission says dine-in stops at 12.30am. The panel will decide on the application as it stands at the hearing.
For another London Road licensing story, read our report on the planned 24-hour slot arcade above student flats. For an earlier licensing panel, see our report on the King’s Arms licence review.
ImJustBrighton note: everything above is taken from the Brighton and Hove City Council Licensing Panel papers for 2 November 2026. Arguments from the operator, Sussex Police and the licensing team are their own and have not been tested at the hearing.
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