KFC has applied for planning permission (22/01155/B) to extend its opening hours.

The franchising company, Gastronomy Foods Ltd, wants the Peel Road drive-through site to be open from 10.30am to 12am, instead of its current hours of 11am-11pm.

The reasoning given was ‘the high demand the store is experiencing and the knock-on effect of causing large queues both in the restaurant and the delivery/drive-thru lane.

The application adds: ‘Extending the opening hours will hopefully alleviate some of this pressure and will help with traffic management on site and in the surrounding areas by spreading out customer demand.’

KFC opened its doors in June, with planning approval being granted in 2019, marking the return of the fast-food outlet to the island since its Duke Street store closed in 2016.

There had been opposition to the initial plans from residents, the Department of Education, Sport and Culture through former Ballakermeen High School head teacher Adrienne Burnett and then-director of public health Henrietta Ewart’s office.

At the time Dr Ewart said that opening a KFC would create ‘an additional source of excess calories’ for children in the area and talked about fast food outlets ‘contribute significantly’ to obesity rates ‘through the provision of food that is calorie dense and large in portion size’.