ANDOVER’S MP stepped in to take action with a takeaway that had been breaching planning control and fire regulations for more than a year.

Kit Malthouse was approached by a resident who lives near the Pizza Hut Delivery, in Mylen Road, with concerns of its fire safety and ongoing breach of planning control earlier this month.

As previously reported, the national chain which operates in the residential street began trading in October 2016 but was informed it was breaching conditions of its planning approval in February 2017.

It had also failed to comply with building regulations until February this year, due to a fire partitioning problem in the loft space shared with Co-op’s storage facility.

Mr Malthouse said: “The resident has raised a number of concerns about planning regulations and building control in relation to the restaurant which I have taken up with TVBC (Test Valley Borough Council).

“I believe it is imperative to ensure all applications are dealt with properly and all necessary regulations including fire safety are complied with to ensure the safety of local residents.”

Last week, the borough council confirmed the takeaway now meets building regulations requirements following an inspection carried out on 6 February.

Building regulations certificates are usually issued within 30 days of a site’s operation, which private contractor Regional Building Control was tasked with until it handed responsibility to TVBC in October.

A TVBC spokesperson said: “The process appears to have been time consuming because the building was occupied prior to the council’s Building Control service becoming involved in the project. Since receiving the application in October 2017, we have been working with the owner, and considering the concerns raised by neighbouring property owners, to resolve the Building Regulations issues. These have now been completed.”

Now controversy remains over the Pizza Hut’s cleaning schedule which has received more than 50 objections on the online planning application.

Residents are raising concerns if the kitchen exhaust system is not cleaned often enough, it could pose a potential fire hazard.

Pizza Hut’s manual, alongside its kitchen equipment manufacturer Canopy UK’s recommendations, both cite the duct system to be cleaned once a year, which has been approved by TVBC’s Environmental Health team.

However, letters of objection which include correspondence with duct cleaning companies, and industry standards leader Building Engineering Services Association all recommend for the system to be cleaned every six months.

In a statement on Environmental Health's decision to approve the cleaning schedule, a TVBC spokesperson said: "The report outlines our contact with Canopy UK regarding the appropriate frequency of cleaning.

"The critical information here is that the advice we have been given is specific to Pizza Hut restaurants and could therefore be different to that given to other restaurants that might carry out deep frying, for example."

Pizza Hut also previously told The Advertiser it was working with TVBC to resolve the issues.

The company added: “This has included working with environmental health who have already confirmed they are satisfied that the extractor fan meets the required health and safety standards for the Hut.”

Resident Keith Wigmore however said the situation is like Grenfell Tower in terms of residents complaining but “nobody is listening.”

In an email to councillors he said: “I am dismayed that nobody within TVBC is even considering the fire safety issue of cleaning the exhaust ductwork of grease.

“Environmental Protection have reviewed the cleaning periodicities and specifically stated they are only looking at the production of odours in the recommendations.

“If it is not the environmental team’s remit I accept this but who takes notices of residents’ concerns regarding the issue?

“My concern is not just for the Pizza Hut in Mylen Road but more importantly the large number of Andover residents that I am aware of who are living above hot food outlets where no fire safety assessment has been carried out on in relation to grease build-up in exhaust ductwork.

“This has increased dramatically in the last five years where first floors above existing takeaways and restaurants have been converted to apartments.”