Plans to extend the opening hours of a Watford town centre restaurant have been deferred until police can comment on the proposals.

Officers were not notified of an application by Sandwich Box, in The Parade, before tonight's meeting of Watford Borough Council's development control committee.

But Councillor George Derbyshire presented informal evidence that suggested police would oppose later opening hours.

The committee then agreed to defer a decision so a formal comment from Hertfordshire Constabulary could be received.

Sandwich Box, in Faircross House, was originally a small cafe until 2008 when it took over an adjacent tailor's shop.

As a cafe it sold cold food that could not be eaten on the premises but with the expansion came permission to allow hot food to be sold and eaten there.

As part of that planning permission, its opening hours were fixed from 7am to 7pm.

But its owners have now applied to extend its opening hours from 7pm to 2am on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

Council officers said the proposed extension on Fridays and Saturdays would be acceptable, due to similar hours afforded to neighbouring late-night takeaways.

For the same reasons, they also stated that a more agreeable closing time on Thursday evenings would be 12.30am.

Sandra Polat, from Sandwich Box, said: “We have had no problems with our neighbours and, therefore, I wouldn't want to create any problems.

“I would endeavour to keep noise at a minimum. There will be no deliveries in the evening to our shop and I will endeavour to make sure there will be no litter outside the shop.

“We've been there 11 years and we're just trying to make a living.”

However, committee members revealed their concerns about approving another late-night licence.

Councillor Rabi Martins said: “Opening to 2am will undoubtedly cause additional disturbance to residents of Faircross House. It would be totally unfair to pretend otherwise but because what we have done in precedent, we probably cannot go against it.”

Councillor Derbyshire said: “I do have considerable reservations about this, not from a noise point of view but I'm quite concerned from the community safety and crime and disorder point of view. I realise the premises have been trading for a number of years but not in the way it's proposed here.”

He also used his experience on the council's licensing committee to explain the “problems associated with late-night refreshment outlets”.

“I have seen evidence that these places are flash points in the town centre,” he said. “They attract people coming out of drinking establishments in quite large numbers and quite frequently there's aggravation outside these places which gets very nasty.

“I would be very worried if we were to agree to these times in the way they are asking for.”

Once Councillor Derbyshire revealed he had contacted police about the application and relayed their concerns to the committee, members unanimously agreed to defer their decision so a formal comment from officers could be presented at a future meeting.