A currently closed take away in Haverfordwest will not be able to re-open with late night hours, the council's licensing sub-committee has ruled.

Applicant Nick Heywood applied to sell hot food from 1 Quay Street – the empty Chicken Pizza Express building – from 11pm to 4.30am on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, from 11pm to 3am on Thursdays and Sundays and from 11pm to 12.30am on Mondays and Tuesdays.

In a written statement to the sub-committee Mr Heywood said that queues would be controlled by a rope barrier, doormen and CCTV.

He said that more fast food outlets would help dissipate groups of people and that the building was one of the many empty ones in Haverfordwest.

"Haverfordwest needs to find ways of attracting people and thereby income, a diverse range of facilities forms part of any regeneration policy," he said.

Police raised concerns that the narrow pavement outside the premises would be unable to safely accommodate queues of customers who could be "heavily intoxicated", putting them at risk from traffic turning in to Quay Street.

"You can't expect people who have been out until 3am to queue in an orderly fashion in the street or behave in an orderly way," said Dyfed-Powys Police licensing officer, Nigel Hayes.

"It would be very difficult to control, like herding chickens and sheep that have had a bit of a drink. If it was a pedestrianised area we would have a different approach."

The council's licensing compliance team had similar concerns, pointing out that the premises was in Haverfordwest's cumulative impact area and that the location was "simply not suitable" for a late night take away; it would encourage people out of the club and pubs and onto the "choke point" between Quay Street and High Street.

"This is the wrong location for a premises of this type and there is very little that can be done to prevent incidents of crime, nuisance and disorder being generated by it," they said.

After considering the application for 20 minutes councillors decided to turn down the application, stating the location of the premises in the cumulative impact area as the main reason.