Councillors approved KFC's 3am drive-thru on Greyhound Way as a nine-month trial. A licence bid for the same hours is open to objections until 18 November.

The KFC drive-thru at Greyhound Trading Park can stay open until 3am every night, but only for nine months. Southend’s Planning Committee approved the later hours on 14 October and added a time limit that council officers had not proposed.

When the trial ends, the restaurant goes back to its current hours of 10.30am to 11pm, according to the committee’s draft minutes (Planning Committee draft minutes, 14 October 2026). The committee said the limit lets the council “assess the impact of the extended operating hours on the amenities of nearby occupiers”.

The application, 26/00865/AMDT, asked to vary the opening hours condition on the restaurant’s original 2010 permission.

The rules for the late hours

The permission sets out how the restaurant must run after 11pm:

  • open from 10.30am to 3am the following morning, every day
  • from 11pm to 3am, the drive-thru lane only: no dining in and no collections on foot
  • no servicing deliveries or collections outside 7am to 11pm
  • a silencer fitted to the kitchen extract, with a noise survey proving it works, before the late hours can start
  • a car park management plan in force from 11pm, with customer and delivery driver parking banned and only staff parking allowed
  • a litter policy, including regular litter picks around the site

Officers had recommended 12 conditions and no time limit (officers’ report). The trial period and the delivery hours are the two the committee added. It also advised KFC to consider physical barriers rather than traffic cones to close off parts of the car park.

Why neighbours objected

The council wrote to 94 neighbouring properties and received objections from 11. They raised noise and disturbance late at night, traffic, pollution, litter and existing anti-social behaviour in the car park. A resident spoke against the scheme at the meeting.

The officers’ report puts the nearest homes, on the east side of Sutton Road, about 24 metres from the KFC building. The drive-thru lane comes within about 20 metres of them. The Southpoint flats are about 44 metres away.

Environmental health did not object. The report says the council has recorded no noise complaints about the site since its records began in 2013.

A licence is still needed

Planning permission is only half of it. Selling hot food after 11pm also needs late night refreshment on a premises licence, and KFC has applied for one (latest licence applications).

The application, 26/01747/LAPREM, asks for:

  • late night refreshment from 11pm to 3am daily
  • opening hours of 10am to 3am daily
  • an extra hour, to 4am, on the morning the clocks go forward for British Summer Time

Representations must reach the council by 18 November 2026.

What it means for you

  • The late hours cannot start yet. The silencer and its noise survey must be signed off by the council first, and the licence has still to be decided.
  • If you live nearby and want a say, the licence is the route now. The planning decision is made. Under the Licensing Act, the council must grant a licence if nobody objects. Any representation you send is passed to the applicant in full, including your name and address.
  • The trial is the other chance. If KFC wants to keep 3am hours after nine months, it would need fresh permission. The committee set the limit so the council can assess the impact.

We covered the meeting in advance in our council week roundup. For how to follow other schemes, see our Southend planning applications guide.