BOSSES at a petrol station has been given the green light to open around the clock ­— despite residents’ objections it could be a magnet for gangs of youths and cause disruption.

Borough planners voted unanimously to approve the new opening hours for Ramsbottom Service Station in Stubbins Lane.

A number of complaints were put forward, on the grounds the unit causes light and noise pollution, increased traffic and encourages youths to loiter.

Residents also said they have been disturbed by lorries arriving and leaving the site in the early hours, and taxi drivers revving their engines.

The service station is owned by Euro Garages Ltd, owned by Moshin and Zuber Issa.

Cllr Cristina Tegolo, said: “All applications have been considered very thoroughly and with things like this, there are always concerns about youths loitering and noise pollution.

“We have indeed looked in the area and investigated the potential to create a disturbance to residents and a noise report was submitted to the committee.

“Going off of the report, we have to look at the information put in front of us, which suggests that the proposal would not create a significant rise in noise pollution.

“If you live in an urban area, it’s reasonable to assume residents can expect a certain degree of noise pollution.

“Light pollution should not be a problem and if it causes a problem to residents and we continue to get complaints, then there are a number of controls we can put in place, but I certainly think the planning department did its job in approving these proposals.”

Cllr Jackie Harris added: “We have talked about the concerns of residents in great depth and I have great sympathy for with residents on these issues.

“The decisions of the committee are not taken lightly, but we have strict rules for how we operate and unfortunately we can’t really take things such as the potential for youths to take part in anti-social behaviour because that is not in our remit.

“Residents are understandably concerned, but we can’t let businesses just ride roughshod over them, but in these case we deemed that their concerns weren’t enough to stop us from agreeing to the proposal, unless the business has been breaking the law in any way.”