Griggs drops sausage roll court brawl as Westminster City Council backs down claim

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Sausage roll fans can soon breathe a sigh of relief after Greggs said he had reached an agreement with Westminster City Council over the range of products he could sell into the wee hours of the morning in central London, the Standard revealed.

The bakery company was due to start a three-day court hearing as soon as today after Westminster was refused permission to sell hot food and drinks after 11pm at its Leicester Square branch, but its boss Rosen Corey said the hearing was cancelled.

She told the Standard: “We now have an agreement with Westminster – we’ve reached a compromise.

“We can still sell all of our sandwiches, all of our sweet treats [late at night] But we are working with the council on what we can sell later in the evening. It’s very positive and we’ve worked really well together.”

Griggs said she would lay out the full details of her agreement with Westminster in due course.

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Aisha Lees, deputy leader of Westminster City Council, said: “On the merits of this case, Westminster has reached an agreement with Greggs that works for everyone.

“We are pleased to continue to support local businesses and look forward to working with the company in the future.”

The Metropolitan Police, Environmental Health, three Westminster Local Councilors and a resident have complained about the bakery’s plans to sell hot food and drink into the early hours of the morning on weekends.

“We believe that, if granted, the application could undermine the goals of the license in terms of preventing crime and disorder,” the Met said.

Griggs said customers can become “confused” if the full menu is not available to them throughout the evening and will be more likely to cause trouble.

She offered to hire security guards wearing body cameras at the Leicester Square location to ensure safety, but the request was still denied.

Westminster Council had previously said that the Licensing Committee had “refused to grant the application on grounds of policy” because Griggs had “failed to demonstrate exceptional reasons why the application should not adversely affect the West End”.

She added: “Gregs will need to try to convince the court that their evidence provides exceptional reasons to allow the premises to operate until 5am, despite being in a cumulative effect area.”

It comes as Greggs posted sales growth of 17.1% in the first 19 weeks of 2023, as more price-sensitive customers flocked to his stores for a cheap bite to eat.

It also boosted its range of meat-free offerings including chicken-free Mexican vegan bread.

The Newcastle based business is looking to expand across UK airports with new stores opening in Glasgow, Cardiff and Gatwick. Bankers looking to bake can also visit their new store in Canary Wharf and the soon to open Moorgate branch.

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