KIRKLEES Council’s leader has intervened in a planning row over a proposed town centre restaurant.

Councillors will decide next week if a new food outlet can open at Cross Church Street.

Police, ward councillors and planning officers oppose the restaurant. They claim it would increase crime on the short street, which is already home to seven takeaways and three bars.

But Kirklees leader Clr Mehboob Khan has called for the proposal to get the green light, saying a new restaurant would not increase late-night disorder.

Mohammed Akram of Syringa Street in Marsh has asked Kirklees Council for permission to set up the new business at 14 Cross Church Street, which has been vacant since electrical store Videotech closed last May.

The restaurant would be based on the ground floor and first floor of the Grade II listed building and would be allowed to open from 9am until 11.30pm seven days a week.

The business would employ 20 full-time and 10 part-time staff.

Clr Julie Stewart-Turner, who represents the area on Kirklees, opposes the plan.

She said: “I have to strongly object. There are already too many restaurants/takeaways on Cross Church Street and they cause considerable difficulties in managing the night-time economy.

“I believe this area already has more restaurants than we need.”

West Yorkshire Police have also objected to the planning application.

Architectural liaison officer Gerry Gallagher said: “Cross Church Street already has a large number of restaurant and hot food selling businesses.

“The view of West Yorkshire Police is that the numerous late-night establishments in this street are the focus for much of the anti-social behaviour and violent crime that takes place there, and that there are more than sufficient number of such premises there already.

“The levels of crime and disorder in Cross Church Street are clearly aggravated by the fact that it is possible to find so many food outlets there late at night, attracting people to that street or encouraging them to remain there.

“Clearly, many of those people would be at varying stages of inebriation.

“In the interests of crime prevention and community safety, West Yorkshire Police would ask Kirklees to decline approval of this application.”

Gillian Swift of the council’s Anti-social Behaviour Partnership also called on planners to refuse permission.

“The area is recognised as a hotspot for alcohol-related crime and disorder,” she said.

“Restaurant and takeaway premises are hotspots for criminal and anti-social behaviour as they are ‘honey-pots’ – places which attract people or where people congregate and linger.

“Criminal acts can be perpetrated often unnoticed and often unchallenged due to the varying levels of intoxication of many of the clientele.”

Planning officers had been due to refuse permission for the proposal.

However, Clr Khan intervened and asked councillors to make the ruling instead.

The Greenhead Labour man believes a new restaurant would be good for Cross Church Street.

“I share concerns that crime and disorder can occur when customers are queuing in hot food takeaways,” he said.

“This proposal is for a restaurant with no hot food sales to be consumed off the premises. Therefore, the proposal would not cause crime and anti-social behaviour in the same way as a hot food takeaway would.”

Clr Khan added that there were “far too many empty premises” in the town centre.

The council’s Huddersfield Planning Sub-committee will rule on the proposal at its monthly meeting at Huddersfield Town Hall from 1pm on Thursday.

Police say there were 121 offences on Cross Church Street, King Street, Kirkgate and Queen Street between April 1 and July 31, 2011.

These included 36 assaults, 20 thefts from the person, 17 cases of people being drunk and disorderly and two sexual offences.

Police estimate that alcohol was a factor in 44% of the 121 crimes, while drugs were involved in 6% of offences.

Half the crimes took place on the street and 43% occurred in the bars and fast food outlets of the area.