A Scarborough adult gaming centre's bid to operate 24 hours a day has been unanimously rejected by councillors due to police concerns over crime and strong objections from local residents.
The owners of an adult gaming centre in a North Yorkshire town will not be allowed to keep it open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, councillors have decided.
Luxury Leisure’s plan for its Admiral adult gaming centre (AGC) in Westborough, Scarborough, to be allowed to operate 24-hours a day has been unanimously refused again by a council planning committee.
Its current opening hours are from 8am to midnight, and, according to planning officers, the restricted hours were a key factor in originally granting permission to open the premises.
Sarah Swan, a resident on nearby Bar Street, told a planning meeting last week:
“I run a business in the conservation area in a flat above my shop. There are at least 25 people living permanently in Bar Street, including three children.
“We are a community, and we care about each other and the character of the town and the street. While living in the town centre means there is a level of street noise during the day, there is restricted vehicular access, which means that there is very low background noise from traffic.
“Any noise occurrence is more obvious than on a busy road with traffic. We do experience noise from people out in the town centre in the evening, including antisocial behaviour, up to about midnight.
“The change of condition to allow 24-hour operation would pose potential harm from noise and antisocial behaviour after midnight. Luxury Leisure, by applying for an inappropriate 24-hour operating, fails to protect the amenity of local residents.”
North Yorkshire Police also said the operating hours should remain unchanged as the premises were located in an area with “high crime and disorder levels”.
There were 488 crimes and 198 anti-social behaviour incidents recorded in the area between January 2025 and January this year, police said.
However, the agent for the applicant, Haris Kasuji, said:
“There are no justifiable planning grounds to refuse this application.”
Speaking at the planning meeting on Thursday, May 14, he told councillors:
“Luxury Leisure did not make the original application, and it would never have agreed to the conditions that were originally proposed.
He added:
“Just because other uses on the street may not operate 24 hours a day is not a valid planning justification to refuse consent.
“There is no harm to amenity, and this is already proven. Even if there was a residential use right above the site, there would still not be any justification to refuse 24-hour consent, because AGC uses do not harm residential amenity.”
A council planning officer said:
“There is nothing that persuades us that we should change the recommendation, which is to refuse to remove the condition on opening hours.”
Cllr Derek Bastiman said he was “disappointed” that the proposal had returned in light of the objections from residents, the town council, and concerns raised by the police about crime in the area.
Cllr Janet Jefferson added:
“It’s essential that the committee takes on board the views raised by the environmental health officer and the designing out crime officer. That is why the conditions were originally set from 8am to midnight.”
North Yorkshire Police “strongly objects to the extended hours of operation” of the site, which it noted was located in a “‘crime hotspot’ by virtue of associated high levels of crime, disorder and anti-social behaviour,” a planning report noted.
Members of the Scarborough and Whitby Area Committee voted unanimously to refuse the application over concerns about noise and disturbance, significant harm to residential amenity, clear risk of anti-social behaviour, and harm to the character of the area.
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