Residents don't relish 24-hour maccies plan

People can go elsewhere for midnight burgers

People living near an Exeter McDonalds restaurant have decided they don’t like the prospect of it being open all night.

If people are ‘desperate’ for midnight burgers, they say, there is always the motorway service station nearby.

The city council’s licensing committee meets next week (March 18) to decide on an application from the burger takeaway to open its Russell Way outlet around the clock.

Orchestra Limited, a company which has the franchises for a number of McDonalds restaurants in the Exeter area, already has a 24-hour outlet on the Stone Lane retail estate.

The company says it understands that it has a duty to the local community and pledges to work in partnership with local police to prevent crime and disorder. 

CCTV cameras will be in use, and Orchestra also says it will carry out litter patrols collecting both McDonald’s packaging and any other litter nearby. It is also prepared to try to limit noise and to protect children from harm.

But the city council’s environmental health section is already dealing with complaints of alleged light nuisance from the headlights of cars parked in the Russell Way McDonalds car park. Neighbours say lights are shining directly into the rear of their properties from the car park while customers sit in their vehicles eating food.

A report to the committee says: “We visited one of the complainants’ properties in December to witness the lights which, we agree, are intrusive.”

The council has suggested a light-blocking barrier, but no action has been taken yet.

Permission was originally granted for the Russell Way outlet in August 2024, and one objector to the application writes: “We have to contend with the food outlet and all it brings with it for 17 hours of every day. To be forced to have it running 24 hours a day, which clearly is overnight when residents are supposed to be sleeping, is not acceptable.

“If people are so desperate for ‘late night refreshments’ after 11 o’clock at night and can’t make something in their own kitchens, then may I suggest they pay a visit to Moto motorway services which is less than five minutes drive from Russell Way and is open 24 hours a day without any impact on housing.”

Another says ‘boy racers’ hang around in the car park and use Russell Way as a race track. The objector goes on: “If people are desperate for burgers and fries throughout the night, alternatives already exist. Customers can use delivery services such as Deliveroo, drive to the M5 services which operate 24 hours a day, or walk there if they live locally.”

Another objector writes: “McDonald’s is not a necessity, and there are facilities for food in an ‘emergency’ nearby. Opening at 5am is more than adequately early for those off to work, but opening past 11 is disruptive.”

The nearby Tesco store is also among the objectors.