New McDonald's at Northampton supermarket approved despite residents' objections

The two-storey fast food chain was given the green light by members of Northampton Borough Council’s planning committee despite concerns over traffic and the ability of existing highways to cope.

But the restaurant has been ordered not to open between midnight and 6am as part of the planning conditions, thwarting the franchise’s plan to open for 24 hours.

One of the committee members who rejected the scheme, Councillor Zoe Smith, said granting the application would be ‘a terrible betrayal’ for residents.

But franchise owner Perry Akhtar, who runs seven other McDonald’s across the Northampton area, said the new restaurant would bring in up to 100 jobs to benefit local people and the economy, and that three litter picks would be carried out every day to preserve the environment.

The decision had been called in by Councillor Mike Hallam, who speaking at the meeting tonight (July 31) said: “This is simply the wrong location - it will only add to the traffic. The existing roads will not take the queueing, we have problem there already.”

But Councillor Brian Markham said he could see "no planning reasons" on which to reject the proposal - and seconded an amendment from committee chair Cllr Brian Oldham imposing the closing hours.

The amendment was accepted by the majority of the committee and the application approved.