A bid to extend the opening hours of McDonald’s restaurants in Maidenhead and Windsor has been discussed by the council after facing objections over litter and noise.

In January, applications were submitted to allow the fast-food chain’s branches in Maidenhead High Street and Thames Street, Windsor, to remain open until 5am, seven days a week.

This would include the sale of hot food and non-alcoholic drinks, for consumption on and off the premises,

Currently, both the Windsor and Maidenhead McDonald’s branches are open until 11pm.

After a meeting with Thames Valley Police in February, applicant Snak Restaurants Limited said it would reduce the opening hours to 3am instead.

Thames Valley Police also requested 13 conditions be added to both of the premises’ licence applications, which McDonald’s agreed to.

However, the applications still faced objections from residents concerned about noise, litter, and anti-social behaviour.

The council’s licensing and public space protection order (PSPO) sub committee discussed the fast food company’s plans during a meeting on Friday (April 17).

Councillor Jack Douglas (Ind, St Mary’s) represented two objectors who live in his ward.

He said: “They both noted that there is a lot of McDonald’s branded litter in [Kidwells] park and their belief I think is that the rat problem is exacerbated by not the litter, but obviously the associated food waste if people are throwing away half eaten burgers.”


The residents also raised concerns about noise from delivery vehicles, councillor Douglas added.

The applicant’s barrister, Freddie Humphreys, said the McDonald’s in Windsor is involved in local initiatives for litter picking and, if there are similar community initiatives in Maidenhead, McDonald’s would be ‘more than happy’ to be approached.

McDonald’s also carries out three litter picks a day along Maidenhead High Street, the top part of Queen Street, the link through to West Street and the side of the restaurant, he added.

In Windsor, the litter picking route covers Thames Street and Thames Avenue, River Street and towards the tennis courts near the premises.

When it comes to delivery drivers, they have to come into the Maidenhead restaurant to wait for the food orders.

McDonalds also has regular meetings with delivery companies and can report any issues directly to them.

Mr Humphreys said: “There is no place for them to congregate outside. They can’t sit on a moped for example revving their engine and waiting, just because of the geography, that doesn’t exist.”

But in Windsor, panel member Cllr Neil Knowles (Ind, Old Windsor) said there are queues of delivery drivers forming around the entrance of Central Station, so he asked if there is anything that can be done to control this.

He said: “[Drivers] tend to park on their mopeds and wait to be called forward because there is no parking effectively or very limited parking in front of McDonald’s itself.”

Shafali Shown-Keen, the director of Snak Restaurants Limited, was happy to address the issue.

Speaking about the Maidenhead restaurant, Cllr Knowles said: “My concerns are around the amount of children who inhabit these places late at night.

“It’s a magnet because it’s one of the few places [that] teenagers can get into. That leads obviously to some unruly behaviour.”

But Mr Humphreys reassured councillors that all staff members receive training around managing anti-social behaviour, with other tools like turning off the Wi-Fi or playing classical music also used.

Cllr Genevieve Gosling (Con, Sunningdale Cheapside) asked if there was a demand that led to these proposed extended hours.

Ms Shown-Keen said: “The idea was that in other areas, we have a lot of police presence that come, so for key workers, for people working in hospitals, for [the] fire brigade, for the police, it was somewhere where they can actually grab food.”

The extended hours would also make it safer for staff members, the meeting heard.

Rather than staff finishing their shift at 11pm and carrying out cleaning, then making their way home at around 1am, they can instead work the night shift and travel home in the morning.

The sub-committee is set to make a final decision on both licensing applications within five working days.