INCREASING the opening hours for the Bridgwater branch of Domino's Pizza could increase public order offences, according to a nearby resident.

Sedgemoor District Council's licensing committee will consider whether the Eastover branch should be able to operate 24/7 - only closing to the public between 3am and 5am but doing deliveries throughout the night.

However the application has received objections from a local resident, Sedgemoor District Council's environmental health service and the police.

As it stands, the store, which is currently undergoing a refurbishment, is only licensed to open until midnight on Fridays and Saturdays and until 11pm other nights of the week.

One objector who lives in Church Street, said: "Blake Place is a cut through to Bristol Road, Bath Road and surrounding areas, which means we already suffer from late night revellers causing a nuisance in the early hours after a night out.

"People walking home at these times are usually heavily intoxicated and cause a public nuisance by shouting, swearing and littering. I have a young family and we are often woken during the night by such anti-social behaviour," he said.

He felt that Domino's extending its opening hours could exacerbate these problems and would result in an increase in crime and disorder in the area.

He noted the number of late night criminal incidents in takeaways and fast food restaurants had seen door supervisors employed into the early hours.

Simon Carpenter from Sedgemoor District Council's environmental health department said he had concerns about the effect of night-time economy noise on nearby residents, and recommended that Domino's stick with its current hours.

Avon and Somerset Police said it spoke with the applicant and suggested a number of conditions including installing a CCTV camera, training for staff on how to deal with incidents of anti-social behaviour and a log book of incidents.

The matter will be decided by Sedgemoor District Council's licensing committee at a meeting on Tuesday, September 5 at 2.30pm in Bridgwater House.