Greggs pushes for 24/7 opening times in Newcastle but Northumbria Police fears new crime hotspots

The beloved bakery chain is trying to extend the opening hours of two popular branches in the heart of the city.

A hearing was held on Tuesday, where councillors were presented with proposals to increase Greggs’ hours at its shops on Neville Street, directly opposite Central Station, and on Grainger Street.

The pasty purveyor has asked Newcastle City Council for permission to open on Neville Street through the night until 5am, which would allow it to operate 24 hours a day.

It also wants its late night refreshment licence on Grainger Street to run until 5am too.

Ben Williams, representing Greggs at Tuesday’s licensing-sub committee meeting, said that the bakery giant was an “exceptional” operator and would take steps to ensure a 24/7 operation would not add to city centre crime issues – including having two door supervisors on duty from 10am to 5am and requiring some staff to wear body-worn cameras.

However, Northumbria Police solicitor Hayley Hebb argued that having more takeaways open risked more drunken people staying in the city centre later into the night and therefore being at greater risk of becoming a victim of crime, with Greggs becoming a potential “flashpoint” for incidents.

Sgt Graham Yare added that a combined 30 extra opening hours per week between the two Greggs units “will logically generate crime”.

He added: “I genuinely believe Greggs will instead become a focal point. Due to the affordability of the food there, that is more likely to be a focal point where people group together if it is open until 5am.”

The city council’s public health department also said that the application would harm efforts to decrease obesity in the city, as it would “extend and increase access to calorie-dense food at a late night hour, which particularly affects shift workers and vulnerable populations”.

Mr Williams said that Greggs was “not part of the problem, they are operating within an area that has its own problems”.

He added that the Neville Street unit already opens until 4.30am most days and that the Grainger Street site opens until 4am from Wednesday to Saturday.

Mr Williams also pointed out that McDonald’s already opens in the city centre until 5am and that Greggs would “follow suit and offer a greater level of choice and assist with dispersal [of revellers from the city centre]”.

Greggs does already operate 24/7 at Newcastle International Airport, but abandoned hopes of all-day trading in London’s Leicester Square in 2023 following similar police concerns.

The council said it would issue a decision on the two licence applications within five working days.