The restaurant on the St James’ Retail Park has been granted permission to change its opening hours to create a 24-hour drive-through, despite objections from residents who said it would exacerbate the problem of boy racers, noise, litter and smell.
Pritpal Singh, who owns 23 McDonalds stores across the north of England, including the Harrogate branch, said there has been a recent increase in early morning and late night traffic and he said a 24-hour licence would give them the flexibility to get something to eat whenever they wanted.

He said: “We want to listen to local residents and talk through their problems on a face-to-face basis. But I see trade patterns changing - we are now a 24-hour society and we believe having this flexibility will help us grow.”

Objector Julie Hargreaves, who lives on Wetherby Road, said young drivers use the business park’s car park to meet other teens, and she said matters will only be made worse if the car park is kept open later than it is now.

She also described the smell coming from McDonalds as an intermittent problem and said litter is constantly strewn across their gardens and along their cul-de-sac.

She said: “Six out of seven times each week there is a gathering of young people in cars, driving them around the car park honking their horns and screeching their tyres.

“We have a very big problem with noise in the evenings and frankly the residents have had enough.”

Gavin McBride, representing McDonalds, said environmental health inspectors had no objections to the proposals and he said workers were willing to increase the amount of times they patrolled the area for litter.

The restaurant is currently open between 6.30am and 11pm.