A Hereford restaurant owner is hoping the presence of doormen will allow him to sell food during the early hours.

Serkan Sipahi has also installed four CCTV cameras at Flames Kebab House in an attempt to convince councillors that trouble and disorder will be kept to a minimum inside the Union Street eatery.

Mr Sipahi said forthcoming changes to pub and club opening times meant his restaurant would go out of business should his application to serve food until 3am be refused today (Thursday).

He said: "I don't want to pay out extra money to doormen but they do make a psychological difference and people will not start fighting if they see them.

"I need to stay open later than I do now because the new licensing laws mean people will be out a lot later.

"If I don't get the new licence I am worried people will come here at 2am and when I tell them I cannot serve them they might get angry with me and break my windows."

West Mercia Police have written to Herefordshire Council to ask that the restaurant close at 1.30am.

And Environmental Health officers have requested 11 conditions be placed on any new licence regarding public nuisance and public safety issues.

But Mr Sipahi believes the new rules allowing pubs and clubs to open later must go hand-in-hand with late-night food establishments.

"In every other city in the UK the clubs shut first and then the takeaways later - it is common sense. So why should Hereford be different?" he asked.

"I know there is trouble in some parts of the city but I don't think Hereford is an aggressive place and we have never had any problems here in the two years that Flames has been open."

A former Mayor of Hereford has also applied for an extension in the opening hours at his fish and chip shop.

Councillor Alan Williams has put forward an application to keep Mr Chips, on Commercial Road, open until midnight from Monday to Wednesday, until 1am on Thursdays and Sundays and until 2am on Fridays and Saturdays.