Street food stall battles shops over 'smell of fried meat'

An independent Bath street food stall is battling to open one more day a week — after some neighbouring shops objected to the plan.

LJ Hugs has been serving the city of Bath Cajun street food such as grilled chicken and beef for the last decade. The stall is currently on Bath ’s Bog Island between the signs for the old Island Club and open Tuesdays to Saturdays.

But now it is facing a battle from neighbouring businesses as it aims to extend its licence to open on Mondays too. Three nearby shops have submitted objections to the application and now the matter is set to go before a licensing hearing before Bath and North East Somerset Council.

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Breno Salles-Costa of Sukko, just across the street, said the stall attracted a large number of customers which could cause “disruption” on delivery day Monday. He also warned: “The smell of fried meat, etc. every day from this tent is already unpleasant and causes residents and businesses to have to close doors and windows. Adding an extra day trading will only add another day of frying smells to the area.”

But responding to the objection concerns, LJ Hugs founder Lewis Farquharson said: “The accusation of an unpleasant smell is clearly subjective and — judging on the high number of customers that the same complaint mentions — the smell cannot be that unpleasant otherwise we wouldn’t have any customers.”

Mr Salles-Costa added that the pitch on Bog Island had historically old artwork and lemonade and that neighbours should have been consulted before it became a hot food takeaway. Delshad Mageed of Bath Chip Shop said: “I am concerned about the effect on my business as we are both running takeaway food shops with very similar menus.”

He added that he was concerned it would increase litter, but Mr Farquharson said that other shops generated litter too and LJ Hugs spent £400 a month having their bins emptied twice weekly. Meanwhile Lawrence of House of Bridgwater also raised concerns about the smell of the cooking.

They said: “As a small shop, we keep our doors open to the street during business hours, which is essential for attracting foot traffic. The smell of fried chicken from the proposed site will undoubtedly permeate our store, potentially attaching to our clothing, scarves, and other fabrics.”

But Mr Farquharson said: “We are nowhere near their store. They are based round the corner by the Abbey more than 500 yards away?”

The application will go for a hearing before Bath and North East Somerset Council’s licensing subcommittee in the Kingston Room in the Pump Room in Bath at 10am on November 28.