RESIDENTS are calling on council bosses to limit the number of late-night licences issued to restaurants in Harringay's Green Lanes.

They believe the large number of late-opening cafés and restaurants in the busy street are creating a "24-hour culture" which they claim has led to an increase in violent and drug-related crime and prostitution.

The call comes days before Haringey Council's licensing sub-committee is due to discuss licensing applications for 11 restaurants in the Harringay area.

A number of neighbourhood watch groups, plus residents and the leader of the Ladder Community Safety Partnership (LCSP), have written to the committee detailing their opposition to the applications.

A spokesperson for the LCSP said: "Residents feel very strongly that the character of Green Lanes has undergone a radical change over the last two or three years.

"What was previously a varied and disparate local shopping centre at the heart of a residential area has now become a magnet for late night café activities – these changes have been piecemeal, unplanned and haphazard."

The LCSP also highlighted the problem of gun and drug crime and protection rackets in Green Lanes, which have caused a downturn in trade in recent months, particularly since the gang battle of November 9, which killed Alisan Dogan.

The well-documented crime problems in Green Lanes have also led many residents to become fearful of objecting to licensing applications or renewals, the LCSP claims.

Several other neighbourhood watch organisations and individual residents have sent objections to the licensing sub-committee, raising concerns over a number of issues connected to the anti-social behaviour that accompanies the late-opening eateries – including harrassment of passers-by, drunkenness and noise pollution.

Campaigners believe that, if granted, licences should be strictly restricted to midnight between Sunday and Thursday and 2am on Friday and Saturday, as opposed to the regular 5am or even 6am closing times of some restaurants.

The sub-committee is due to discuss the applications at a meeting in the Civic Centre, Wood Green, on Monday evening.