La Feria in Harrogate has asked North Yorkshire Council for permission to allow outdoor seating until 11pm between April and September.

The restaurant offers Spanish cuisine from the Andalusia region and opened on Cold Bath Road in 2016 after moving from a smaller premises on Royal Parade.

La Feria, which is the trading name of Whaddya Know? Ltd, had a temporary licence for outdoor seating until 11pm last summer which owner Jeremy Verity would now like to make permanent.

Currently, customers are allowed to sit outside until 9pm.

The building was previously a pub for many years and was known as the Old Tradition, the Honest Lawyer and the Iron Duke.

Councillors on the licensing sub-committee will meet on Friday in Harrogate to consider the application.

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The application has received three objections from residents living near the restaurant who all say it should be refused due to noise.

One person said:

 “We have a young family and it is important that we are able to live in a peaceful residential environment. If the restaurant was operating as they intended with their new application, we would not have purchased this house. It will significantly impact our peace and quiet and the ability of our young child to sleep.”

Mr Verity wrote in the application: 

“We are currently permitted to use the terraced area in front of the restaurant until 21.00 because of an environmental protection condition on our license which prohibits us from using the terrace between 21.00 – 11.00. We would like to remove this condition to be able to use the terrace until 23.00 from Monday to Saturday.

“Realistically, this will only be during the summer months, from April to September, during the lighter evenings. We have successfully operated the terrace area in previous summers until 23.00 through the use of Temporary Event Notices (TENS) and would now like to formalise this activity if possible.”

The meeting will take place at 2pm on Friday at Harrogate’s Civic Centre. It will be streamed live on YouTube.

The government’s Eat Out to Help Out scheme may have ended but some restaurants in the Harrogate district have announced they will still be offering their own versions of the initiative in November.

The Eat Out scheme offered discounted dining on Mondays to Wednesdays during August.

It proved so popular that months later, some restaurants are continuing to provide cut price deals.

La Feria, on Cold Bath Road, is offering a 50% discount on food up to £10 from Monday to Wednesday until the end of November.

With 25 staff, Jez Verity, the director, was keen to support his staff when the furlough scheme ended this month.

Thanks to the ongoing discount, the restaurant has had more than 100 people in every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

Mr Verity said:

“It was a big, big success in August, I think all businesses in Harrogate had significantly benefited on those three days.

“We decided to carry it on in September and see what happened. The customers really embraced it, they knew what it was and it was easy to understand.

“It’s also a way for us to say a thank you to customers for supporting us, and really give something back to them.”

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Other restaurants offering similar deals are All Bar One, which is offering £10 off food with the download of their app until 12th November, and the Queens Head Inn at Kettlesing, which is extending their discount of 50% off food from Monday to Wednesday until the end of next month. 

West Park and Al Bivio are also looking to encourage business on quieter days of the weeks, offering half price vouchers through The Stray Ferret. 

Let us know if your restaurant is running a similar promotion in November and we will add your details to this article.