A licence application for a Quay Street takeway to stay open until 4.30am on weekends and Wednesdays has been deferred to a later date.

Pembrokeshire County Council's licensing sub-committee was due to discuss the controversial application on Monday, January 12.

However neither representatives from the police or the applicant, Mr Nicholas Heywood, were able to attend the meeting and chairman, Cllr Alison Lee agreed to adjourn it.

The premises was previously run as a takeaway but has been closed for some time. The application to reopen it as an early hours eatery has attracted condemnation from both the police and the council's licensing compliance team.

A report by the licensing compliance team raises concerns about the amount of people in the area and the premises' location in a 'cumulative impact' area. It says the use of CCTV and doormen as suggested would do little to prevent disorder.

It refers to three licensed premises on Quay Street which can result in around 1,000 people leaving at around 3.30am and likely to use the takeaway.

It adds: "The premises is small and not able to accommodate significant numbers of people waiting to be served, adding to congestion issues...The opening of 1 Quay Street with the hours applied for can only serve to encourage significant numbers of intoxicated individuals to remain at that crowded choke point."

The report adds: "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."

Police licensing officer Nigel Hayes adds: "The police will contend that the hours applied for are excessive and the impact on this area into the early hours of the morning will be extremely detrimental to the town.

"The effect of having a food outlet until these late hours at this location will only serve to ensure that customers using the establishment will remain in the town centre longer than they would have normally, adding to the nuisance factor as well as impacting on crime and disorder."