Opposition is mounting against plans for a new KFC drive-thru in north Carlisle, with about 100 comments and objections now submitted.

Morrisons Supermarkets on Kingstown Road has applied for permission to turn part of its car park into a new takeaway restaurant, with the fried chicken giant poised to take it on.

But the proposal has been met with anger from those living in and around the area.

Last week the News & Star revealed that, despite Carlisle having some of the worst obesity statistics in the country, councils are powerless to refuse new fast food applications on health grounds.

But objectors argue there are many other reasons to turn down the new drive-thru - which would stay open until 3am.

They include traffic congestion, noise, litter and the impact on the wider residential area.

Among those objecting is Anthony Robinson, of nearby Lansdowne Close. He has submitted a lengthy letter to Carlisle City Council, with more than a dozen separate concerns.

He described the proposed opening times - from 10.30am until 3am Monday to Saturday, or until 11pm on Sundays - as “nothing less than an insult to local people”.

Mr Robinson also claims that few other KFC outlets in the UK open as late as that planned for Kingstown Road - and added that the other Carlisle KFC - due to open on the old Harraby Green Service Station site - only sought to open until midnight.

He added: “Out of 237 outlets, I can only find one which opens until 3am, and only for three nights a week. That is at Penistone Road, Sheffield, which I know is on the edge of an industrial estate, close to the football ground.

“So why does the applicant wish to place an outlet in a predominantly residential area, opening six days a week until 3am?”

Several residents also make comparisons to the former Burger King drive-thru on London Road, which previously resulted in complaints about so-called ‘boy racers’ and antisocial behaviour.

There are also concerns that a new 24-hour service station, selling alcohol, being constructed by Morrisons will fuel problems.

Extra raffic in an already congested area is another major concern for residents.

One objection said: “The junction at Morrisons can often be quite jammed and difficult to negotiate. Any new development here would undoubtedly add to these problems.

“The road is the main artery north and leads to residential areas. More traffic will mean more noise and air pollution at a time when the national dialogue is on how to reduce these problems.”

Another added: “This area is very much a residential area. The impact on the local community with regard to the increase in traffic is a major problem.

“A bypass was built to ease the traffic flow along this main road but it is now increasingly being added to with the constant opening of fast food outlets - with Subway, McDonald’s, Greggs, Domino pizza and now a proposed KFC all within half a mile of each other.

“Coupled with numerous housing developments the traffic is yet again going to be a serious problem. Placing this in a car park of a supermarket, with a busy junction being the only entrance and exit, is another concern.”