A BIG MAC bid to build a £1million drive-thru eating house in Burnley could be given the go-ahead by planning chiefs this week.

The giant McDonald's chain want to take over the former Hop pub site in Trafalgar Street for an 85-seat restaurant and drive-thru take-away - but nearby householders aren't taking the plan sitting down.

Residents in the newly-built Bevington Close complex say the restaurant would cause noise, litter and smell nuisance and create traffic chaos, causing a hazard to children nearby.

They have lodged objections to the proposal, which goes before the council's development control committee for consideration on Thursday.

And they have backing from two ward councillors, despite the fact that McDonald's say it will bring 70 new jobs to the town.

But in their report to councillors, officers say the plan to bring a new chapter to a site with a colourful past, should get the green light, providing conditions are met.

They say environment health chiefs are satisfied with proposed odour control measures and a noise barrier fence would also protect residents.

Their report states: "Although some disturbance to nearby residents from the development is inevitable, it will not be significantly higher than the disturbance already experienced due to the location of the dwellings between two heavily-trafficked roads and close to several business premises." They say the council should give the go-ahead provided road issues are resolved.

A spokesman for McDonald's said today they were delighted to have the opportunity to apply for a site in which they had been interested for some years.

She added that development of the site, owned by the Kitchen's garage group, would mark a significant investment, which would further extend the level of service the company offered in Burnley.

The spokesman said if the plan was approved it was hoped to open the new outlet in the autumn.

The development would bring new life to a site which was the place to be in Burnley in the in the 1970s and early 80s. The New Hop, Trafalgar Street, was the first to have Go-Go dancers and used to have queues of people every night waiting to get in.

It was also the place where Britain's biggest national newspaper bingo fiddler planned his scam, which netted one of his friends £1m in a Sun newspaper competition.

And in 1989 the pub's drama continued when licensee Michael Greenwood shot himself through the head with a 12-bore shotgun after his marriage broke up.

Since 1994, the premises have been owned by Kitchen's Garage, who announced in 1997 that they had decided to knock the building down.

Besides The Hop, the pub has also been called the Bitter End and Kitty O'Sheas.

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