Burger van at football club near Bristol sparks complaints from neighbours

A burger van at a local football club has sparked a battle with neighbours in a Somerset town.

Portishead locals have claimed that the 20-foot H&A Burgers trailer at the town’s football club is attracting rats, stopping people sleeping, and causing a smell. One person said they feared it could turn the site into a “truck stop.”

Four of the Portishead Town FC’s neighbours wrote to North Somerset Council to object to the van’s application for a street trading licence which would allow it to open from 7.30am until 11pm six days a week, and until 4pm on Sundays.

The neighbours’ concerns were included in the reports pack for the meeting of North Somerset Council’s licensing committee on October 9 where a decision was made. Councillors granted the licence, but with opening hours ending at 10.30pm instead of 11pm. The street trading licence also has a requirement to move the van on a daily basis.

Locals had raised concerns about the long opening hours. One person who wrote to the council over the proposal said: “We have become used to living adjacent to the local town football club and understand it being used by a large number of people from Portishead and other areas.

“The football club is mostly used while matches are being played at certain points throughout the weekend weekends, but we believe that a food trailer that will be trading from early morning to late and night is too excessive for where it will be sited. We can understand this being used for matches and events but not all day, every day.”

They added: “The site is a council owned green space and not a trading estate. This trailer would be open longer than any shop in the local area.”

Another person who submitted an objection said: “It’s not that we object to the food van in principle but the placement of the van has affected the local neighbours in close vicinity to the football club.”

They added that the current position of the food van meant it was “backed onto the houses” and the noise of its generator causes “significant distress” to people living by the club on Bristol Road.

One person added: “Since the trailer has been operating, I’ve had to sleep with all windows closed even in the hot weather so as not to hear the generator.”

H&A Burgers serves “gourmet burgers,” “mega hot dogs,” and loaded fries, as well as drinks, to hungry fans of Portishead Town FC. The club’s men’s first team currently play in Division One of the Western Football League, the 10th level of the football league pyramid.