A licensing hearing to decide whether a takeaway could open until 4am has been forced to reschedule in the interests of 'natural justice'.

Caprinos Pizza in Newcastle applied to the council to extend opening hours but objections from Environment Health over potential increases in noise forced a hearing.

The Liverpool Road takeaway applied to vary its premises licence so it can provide late night refreshment until 4am on Fridays and Saturdays and 3am the rest of the week.

The application came after licensing officers at the council discovered that the outlet was advertising the supply of hot food up to 4am.

Under the current license the branch is only allowed to sell hot food 1.30am on Fridays and Saturdays, and until midnight on other days. However business owner Muhammad Saleem said it had been a 'genuine mistake'

However before the hearing started at Newcastle Borough Council talks between the business owner and environmental protection officers were under way to find a compromise over the premises and allow them to trade later than currently allowed.

After hours of talks it seemed a compromise was agreed.

Once the over two and half hour delayed meeting started councillors on the licensing panel said the meeting would have to be adjourned until a later date. Panel chairman, Cllr John Williams explained: "Because of the time really it wouldn't be fair to rush a decision in the interest of natural justice and fairness. It wouldn't be right to do that."

It is understood that the agreement reached between the business and environmental protection officers related to the removal of the objection on the condition that a noise impact assessment was carried out to ensure the outlet was compliant with guidelines around noise.

The licensing hearing is set to be rescheduled for a later date in the future.