A Caribbean restaurant that has taken over the former site of one of Newcastle city centre’s most infamous takeaways has promised it “won’t be any form of nuisance” to fearful neighbours.
Locals in Waterloo Street were left worried that plans from KK’s Caribbean Cuisine to sell alcohol late into the night would mark a return to the “horror” caused by the Happy Chip. The former takeaway, which was a well-known destination for legal highs and hotspot of anti-social behaviour in the city, was stripped of its licence in 2014, having been at the centre of an investigation following claims a woman had collapsed outside the shop having bought a drug there which has subsequently been made illegal.
When KK’s launched a bid to expand its licence so it could serve and deliver booze as late as 3am every night, residents feared an influx of problems back to Waterloo Street. But city councillors were told at a Newcastle City Council licensing hearing on Tuesday morning that the plans had undergone major changes in order to protect neighbours.
