Fans of a fried chicken franchise have been given some finger-licking good news by councillors as a Surrey KFC has been granted a late licence.

The Station Road branch in Addlestone has been granted permission to keep churning out the chicken until the wee small hours by Runnymede Borough Council’s licensing committee.

A last-minute switch in their plans means the extended hours will be delivery-only, although its doors will remain open for fire safety reasons.

The branch’s new hours from Sunday to Thursday will extend from 11pm to 1am while on most Fridays and Saturdays this will be pushed back until 3am.

On the morning of the change to British summer time this will be extended to 4am.

Concerns were raised about the increased risk of more rubbish strewn around the town centre, while a neighbour complained of delivery drivers blocking access to their home – with one getting abusive to the neighbour.

“They were subjected to verbal abuse and threats when they had challenged their behaviour which was unacceptable”, the council papers read.

Residents who had complained of rubbish were told the new hours were now only for delivery rather than walk-in diners, thereby reducing the likelihood of littering.

KFC representatives added that rubbish was collected regularly and careful monitoring would take place to ensure the area was kept clean.

The KFC store keeper confirmed that all incidents should be reported and they could also give feedback to the companies, and if it persisted, the drivers could be effectively banned from attending if they caused a problem.

Concerns over parking cannot be covered by licensing and KFC has no direct control where people, including delivery drivers, park.

But the meeting heard it could speak with third-party delivery firms, like those from Deliveroo and Just Eat, if problems arose.