NEIGHBOURS have protested over an Abingdon burger bar's plans to stay open until 3am.

McDonald's, in Colwell Drive, has applied to to stay open Thursday to Saturday from 8am until 3am. It currently shuts at 11pm.

From Monday to Wednesday, McDonald's wants to stay open an hour later than the current 11pm closing time.

But residents living nearby are alarmed at the potential for more noise from extra cars pulling up at the restaurant.

Marie Rockminster, 29, who lives opposite McDonald's in Willow Brook, said: "I think it would be really noisy as already quite a few people walk through my garden and jump across the fence to go to McDonald's. It's people coming from the clubs.

"It's noisy enough and you can hear the cars and the motorbikes going right through the house - it's like a main road. People going there at two or three in the morning will cause even more noise. It's open long enough.

"The idea of it staying open for longer is quite terrifying really, it's already noisy enough for us."

Neighbour Donna Kitchen, 28, said: "There could well be more cars, which would lead to much more noise."

Taxi driver Mike Truby, who also lives in Willow Brook, said many more people would use McDonald's if it was open later - he often gets enquiries from customers about places open late for food.

"I can understand it as the clubs stay open until 3am, but I can see that there could be more noise over here," he said.

Abingdon Town Council has raised no objections to the plans.

McDonald's manager Carl Room said: "Based on our experience of other similar locations, we have every reason to believe that opening for longer at the Abingdon restaurant will be popular with our customers.

"By opening for longer, we hope that we will continue to provide a good service to our existing customers and also to new customers, providing hot fresh food, coffee and refreshments to police officers, firefighters, taxi drivers and all of those workers who keep the local area going throughout the night.

"As a responsible local businessman, both myself and my staff recognise that any extension in our opening hours places a greater responsibility on us to ensure we continue to have a positive impact on the local area we operate in and I will work with the local community to tackle their concerns."

McDonald's at Milton Heights service station, near Didcot, has also applied to stay open later. It wants to extend its closing times all week from 11pm to 5am.