Swanley Garage Seeks 24-Hour Alcohol Licence as Neighbours About 10 Metres Away Object

A petrol garage on London Road in Swanley wants to sell alcohol 24 hours a day and serve hot food and drink through the night, and neighbours whose homes are about 10 metres away are objecting. Sevenoaks District Council's licensing sub-committee will decide at a hearing at 10.30am on Thursday 8 October. Kent Police and the council's Environmental Health team have raised no objections.

The application is to vary the premises licence at Swanley Service Station, London Road, Swanley BR8 7HB. Alcohol can currently be sold from 6am to 11pm every day. The company behind the application, named in the council papers as Highway Stops Retail Limited, asks for alcohol sales at all hours, and for late-night refreshment, meaning hot food and drink, from 11pm to 5am every day. It also asks to remove two existing conditions, the proof-of-age scheme and the requirement to keep spirits behind the counter, and to add conditions of its own.

Its proposed conditions include keeping an incident log of any crime or disorder, kept for at least 12 months. If only one member of staff is on duty between midnight and 6am, the shop door would be closed and sales made through a night pay window. There would be no self-service of spirits, apart from spirit mixtures. It proposes an age-verification policy asking anyone who looks under 25 for photo ID, signs about the policy, and staff training with refreshers at least every six months.

Six residents made objections during the consultation, which ran from 17 August to 11 September. Officers say it is unlikely the application can be settled by agreement before the hearing. The objectors' main concerns, as they put them to the council: noise and disturbance through the night from customers, deliveries, vehicles and the air and vacuum machines, with some homes described as within about 10 metres, or 12 feet, of the garage; bright lighting shining into neighbouring homes; and the risk of anti-social behaviour and street drinking on a quiet residential road, next to the 233 bus stop. One says the garage's exit opens onto a residential street, Crescent Gardens. Several point to other options nearby: another petrol station on London Road, a short walk away, that they say is open around the clock, a licensed shop across the road, and a supermarket about a mile away that they say sells alcohol until midnight. Some say there have been earlier problems, including police being called over anti-social behaviour and theft, and bottles and cans thrown into a garden, and one says early-morning deliveries already happen despite their understanding that they are not permitted. These are the objectors' own accounts, and the papers don't test them. One resident who rents nearby says the 11pm closing time is when they know they can sleep. We haven't heard from the company, and the papers include no reply from it.

The sub-committee can grant the variation as asked, grant it with changed or extra conditions, grant it with shorter hours, or refuse it. The hearing is at the Council Chamber, Argyle Road, Sevenoaks. The applicant, and anyone who made a relevant objection, can appeal the decision to the Magistrates' Court within 21 days of being notified. Source: Sevenoaks District Council Licensing Hearing agenda and reports, 8 October 2026