A street trader will be allowed on a beachside road in Cornwall despite concerns the business’ generator could add to noise in the area.

Residents of the street, near Falmouth’s Gyllyngvase beach, have already complained about noise from other traders.

Mike Lewin told a meeting of Cornwall Council’s street trading sub-committee yesterday (Wednesday, June 25) that he believed his Crab Shack – mooted for Queen Mary Road – would provide a much-needed seafood offering in the town.

However, Falmouth Town Council had recommended refusal due to its belief that “there are already too many traders along Queen Mary Road with noisy generators.”

The road, which is designated as a street trading area, is already home to two previously approved mobile food and drink businesses.

Mr Lewin, who has worked in catering for 35 years and used to run The Lookout restaurant in Falmouth, told the committee he wanted to trade on Mondays to Sundays from 8.30am to 4pm in a newly converted horse box trailer.

The Crab Shack would sell a range of seafood items, including crab tacos, deep-fried calamari and smoked mackerel salad, alongside vegetarian and meat dishes, using local suppliers. Mr Lewin said: “We think it’s a market which isn’t there in Falmouth.” He added that his application had local support in the town.

Responding to the town council’s concerns, he added: “I don’t want to work with a noisy generator.” Mr Lewin said the business had looked at a range of generators, with a favoured inverter generator running at a maximum of 56 decibels. He said if there were problems further down the line, the business could put a box around it to reduce noise further.

He stressed that business would finish at 4pm despite another trader operating on the road until 8pm. Mr Lewin argued that another trader would not be a problem on a 200m stretch of road .

Cllr Samuel Carmichael, of Falmouth Town Council, said his council had received complaints from residents about noisy generators used on the road by existing street traders. The town council had opposed the licence because it believed a third street trader using a generator would exacerbate the noise.

He added that in his opinion, as a new councillor, the town council should have accepted the application but “the corporate view at the time” was to reject.

The street trading committee agreed to grant the application. Councillors noted Falmouth Town Council’s opposition to the licence, but stressed there were no concerns raised by Cornwall Council’s own highways or environmental health departments.

Members felt that three traders at the location would not be too many, but any further applications would have to be considered carefully.