Council planners have refused proposals to open a McDonald's drive thru 24 hours a day.

The fast food chain applied to extend the opening hours of its restaurant in High Street, Sandyford to allow its drive thru and home delivery service to operate around the clock, seven days a week.

But planning officers at Stoke-on-Trent City Council have refused the application due to the potential noise impact on nearby residents in the early hours of the morning.

The McDonald's is currently allowed to open between 7am and 2am, following a previous extension granted on appeal in 2024.

According to the application's covering letter, the further extension is required to 'better serve the needs' of customers and improve the efficiency of the restaurant'.

The letter says that the extension would not result in any 'unacceptable impacts on the existing levels of amenity' – a claim backed up by a noise impact assessment submitted along with the application.

In their delegated decision report, planning officers say significant weight has been attached to the noise impact assessment and the lack of objection from environmental health.

But the officers argue that the conclusion of 'no observable adverse effect' is dependent on a 'single weekday overnight survey' and forecast customer numbers supplied by the applicant, and that a longer, more representative survey could have been carried out.

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The report states: "It has not been satisfactorily demonstrated that the proposed operation of the drive through facility and home delivery service between 2am and 7am would avoid additional noise and disturbance to the detriment of the living conditions of neighbouring residential occupiers.

"The economic and operational benefits of the proposal would not outweigh the identified harm."