A restaurant in Kirkintilloch has been given permission to include alcohol in its food deliveries.

The Thai Cafe in Townhead, which recently came under new management, requested that East Dunbartonshire Licensing Board amend itsits existing alcohol licence so that it could offer alcohol to delivery customers who also purchase meals. It is now owned by Richard Kersley and his wife Nonglak.

The hours requested for this addition to the licence were 5pm until 9.45pm on Tuesday until Saturday with this ending one hour earlier on Sundays. The restaurant already had an off-sales licence as well as an existing bar.

The East Dunbartonshire Health and Social Care Partnership objected to the application due to the premises being located within an area of overprovision for off sales, although it welcomed that delivery drivers would operate a Challenge 25 policy and alcohol would only be available with food.

The applicant explained that they employ drivers own and orders are primarily managed via the JustEat and Foodhub apps with delivery radius varying depending on how busy the restaurant is, with a maximum of seven miles at quiet times.

The licensing board granted the application, although convener Councillor Stuart MacDonald added that if third parties became involved in deliveries care would need to be taken to ensure they also complied with the requirements of the licence.