NEIGHBOURS have rallied against a kebab van in a layby near Thornbury with no toilets – claiming customers use the bushes and there is a “strong smell of urine”.

The owner of the Tasty Kebabs van, located on a layby on the A38 Gloucester Road south of Rudgeway, has successfully applied to South Gloucestershire Council for a new licence to open a breakfast van in the mornings.

But the licence application caused several people living nearby to object.

They claimed the kebab van attracts rubbish and fly-tipping, leads to congestion and lorries blocking the layby, and that some customers urinate on the nearby bushes.

Yuzeur Seyfula, who runs the kebab van, told a council licensing hearing that staff could use toilets in a nearby plumbing shop, and said he takes pride in keeping the area around his van clean and tidy.

He added any smell of urine “would not be beneficial” to his business.

He applied for a street trading consent from the council, to open a new breakfast van in the layby, Tom’s Brekkie, trading from 7am until 2pm.

Tasty Kebabs currently runs from 4pm until 12am. Councillors on the licensing hearing heard from Mr Seyfula and concerned neighbours during the hearing on Tuesday, May 31, and granted him a trading licence.

One neighbour said: “A couple of times my granddaughter has to come to stay, and we walk past the layby. I always take a wide berth going past as the smell of urine is so strong.!

Another neighbour added: “The customers have nowhere to use a toilet. We’ve witnessed countless people going into the quarry [behind the layby], and that’s not hygienic."

Staff working at the food van would be able to use toilets at the nearby North Bristol Plumbing Supplies shop, about a kilometre away, according to Mr Seyfula. Speaking through an interpreter, he told the hearing that the council had installed a bin by the layby, which customers could use for rubbish.

His interpreter said: “The reason for the application is to help the business to pick up and generate more sales. He’s supported by his wife, and would employ two more staff, so they have enough time to go and use the toilets. He has never had any customers ask to use any toilet facilities.”