Subway licensing dispute hots up

7:00am Friday 16th May 2008

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A DISPUTE between Warminster Town Council and a national sandwich outlet has broken out in a row over its licence.

Subway in Market Place, Warminster, operates as a sandwich bar but councillors have argued that the outlet's seating for 34 people makes it a café and subsequently operating without the correct licence.

The concerns, raised at a town council planning and advisory committee meeting on Monday, have been backed by West Wiltshire District Council, which said this week the outlet needed to apply for further planning permission.

Martin Graves, the licensee of Subway in Warminster, which opened on May 7, disputed the claims arguing that the licence is the same for all Subway outlets across the country.

He said: "It is the primary use which is the determining factor. The majority of customers take their food out.

"There are always people that have concerns but a vast majority of people seem to be supportive of us."

At the moment the outlet operates under an A1 shop licence after it replaced the Barnado's charity shop earlier this year. This allows them to use the facility as a sandwich shop.

With the extra seating and sale of hot foods, the district council now says it should be categorised as a mixed-use facility, which would require the shop to obtain an A3 licence (café/restaurant) and an A5 licence (takeaway for the sale of hot food).

Town council clerk Heather Abernethie said: "When they opened up it was opened up as a sandwich bar and that's the issue the members have got.

"They are a café as well and have seating inside and outside but they did not apply for change of usage which is something WWDC is looking at.

"This is a big company and I am sure they will have investigated it but it's just the way they have gone about it."

Cllr Tony Nicklin said he welcomed Subway to Warminster but the extent of the litter outside and the way he feels the licence has been dealt with has given him concerns.

He said: "When it came before the town council before, all that came to us was permission to erect two signs.

"It was very suspicious because if they were going to open as a shop that's all they need, but we know that Subway is a café."

James McCron, a spokesman for the district council, said Subway must now either apply for planning permission for change of use or obtain a certificate of lawfulness to prove it has the correct licence. He said: "We continue to monitor the situation and are working with the owner to reach a solution."