A TOWN centre eatery has received approval to serve takeaway food, within set hours.

Bournemouth council planning officers agreed to remove an old condition placed on Istanbul, at 144 Old Christchurch Road, opposite Horseshoe Common, preventing it selling takeaway hot food.

However, using delegated powers, officers added a condition restricting serving times to 7am to midnight, Sunday to Thursday, and 7am to 12.30am on Friday and Saturday.

In March, manager Mohanad Badawi put in a bid to keep Istanbul open until 5.30am, and told the Echo his business depended on late night trade from revellers at clubs and bars in the area.

However in May the town's licensing board turned the bid down, citing the high level of crime and antisocial behaviour in the area late at night.

In a letter to the planning board on behalf Mahmoud Haydar, owner of neighbouring business Fresco, licensing consultant David Ramsey said Istanbul had "blatantly breached" the condition over the past year, "carrying out sales of hot food regularly into the early hours of the following morning".