The owner of controversial tea shop in a busy shopping district has had her attempt to extend its opening hours refused.

Sonia Ahmed, of Divine Patisseries Ltd, had asked for permission for her Mi Chaii outlet in Whalley Range to stay open into the early hours.

In October last year, she was given permission to cover its outside decking area by Blackburn with Darwen Council's planning committee despite neighbour Asif Iqbal attending the meeting to object, and accuse the cafe of "a horrific catalogue of violations of its planning conditions".

Now the authority has knocked back her bid to extend the tea shop's opening hours by one hour to midnight on Sundays to Thursdays, two hours to 1am on Fridays, Saturdays and Bank Holidays, and by four hours to 3am for 30 days during Ramadan.

A report by planning officer Tom Wiggans recommending refusal reveals three nearby residents had objected and the council was aware of repeated breaches of the existing planning consent for the tea shop which opened in 2022.

The neighbour objections included late night activity, noise and disturbance; anti-social behaviour at unreasonable hours; litter and vermin; illegal indiscriminate parking; and frequent breaches of planning restrictions; adding 'enough is enough - a line needs to be drawn'.

Mr Wiggans report says the council's public protection department had also objected.

It says: "The Mi Chaii café / restaurant at this site has a history of undertaking development without the necessary planning consents, and/or alleged breaches of planning conditions by operating outside approved hours.

"The site has been regularly monitored by officers from the planning department, as well as officers from other departments within the council, following neighbour complaints of noise and disturbance into the early hours, as well as indiscriminate illegal parking, and litter / vermin.

"The authorised hours of use are similar to other businesses in the area. The existing restrictions are considered to be appropriate.

"There are serious, ongoing concerns about the impact of late trading.

"The council’s licensing team are in the process of prosecuting the owner of the premises in relation to the breach of the licensing hours."

The reasons for refusal given in the decision notice are: "The proposed extension to the authorised opening hours of the premises - which lie in close proximity to residential properties - would result in excessive noise and disturbance late into the night when local residents are trying to sleep, and particularly so during Ramadan.

"The proposal would have a significant and unacceptable detrimental impact on the amenity of local residents and would set an unwelcome precedent for other businesses in the area to apply for similar extensions."