OPERATORS of a burger van that has built a huge following on social media allegedly paid children £100 to eat a ten-stack burger, a meeting was told.

The claim was made during a licensing hearing where councillors granted a premises licence for Only Foods and Sauces, which operates from an industrial estate, where it also stages events and serves alcohol as well as selling burgers, other food and ice creams.

Monmouthshire Council received 38 objections to the application, mostly related to noise complaints which operator Kyle Getting, who represented his wife Kelly at the hearing, said were due to “mistakes” made when they hosted a music event with a DJ from Ibiza at their base on the Bulwark Industrial Estate in Chepstow.

The council had also received 90 statements in support of the application made by Mrs Getting.

At the Tuesday, September 9, licensing hearing, Councillor Sue Riley, speaking on behalf of objectors in her Bulwark and Thornwell ward, said she had concerns over how the van is run.

She said: “I’m told there was a trade-in day where anybody could trade in any item to get a free burger and one resident’s son and his friends were paid £100 to eat a ten-stack of burgers.

“To trade in, they had taken items from the house of a higher value,” said Cllr Riley, who also claimed traffic cones were among items taken and exchanged for burgers.

The Labour councillor also claimed young people were filmed eating a stack of burgers with the footage posted to social media and said: “As a social worker I do have some concerns about these things.”

She said noise during a music event had also caused a resident with a heart condition to feel unwell, claiming: “The pulsating beat of the bass made him feel extremely unwell for most of the weekend.”

Cllr Riley suggested the committee should, if possible, only grant a temporary licence or one with a probationary period.

Mr Getting said it was accepted a “mistake” had been made when it hosted an event with DJ Blighty.

He said: “We made a mistake and had gone out and hired big speakers and a sub-woofer as we had a world famous DJ coming. We wanted the best for the DJ who had come from Ibiza.”

During the event Mr Getting said he’d taken a sound reading, some 600 to 700 metres away near the boundary to the nearest homes, which measured 50.4 decibels.

The business has hosted four events since without further complaint, said Mr Getting, and it now delivers notices to nearby residents, with contact details, to inform them of upcoming events, which he pledged to continue.

He claimed objector Tony Phelps, who said he lives nearby, had told him he had taken issue with the type of music.

Mr Phelps told the committee music had been played from 9.30am to 10pm on three days over a bank holiday weekend and could be heard three or four miles away.

Mr Getting said: “Mr Phelps’ first objection wasn’t how loud it was, but the type of music. He thought it was drum and bass, I said ‘no, it’s dance’. He said ‘turn that off’ and I said I wouldn’t turn it off.”

He said he turned the music down when Mr Phelps told him it was “too loud”, and added that it isn’t the intention to use van, which has a canopy covered seating area, as a nightclub.

The focus is on family entertainment as well as plans for events such as silent discos, children’s and Halloween parties and drag shows, he claimed.

“This is not a nightclub or nightclub environment. Children come and watch a movie, last time we had Lilo & Stitch, and mum and dad sit there and have a beer. This is not a nightclub, this is all for families, people have got the wrong impression.”

During the hearing it was also confirmed there isn’t currently planning permission in place for food and drink use, which wouldn’t impact the licensing committee’s decision.

Mr Getting said a retrospective application has been made, with the couple having believed there was approval for an earlier use.

He also told the committee how the couple had started their business earlier this year when their previous van had been destroyed in a fire.

He said social media personality “the Spud Man” had given them a new van, with an agreement to “pay when you can”, and their social media following went from just under 2,000 to more than 250,000 in a few months, with people visiting from as far as London and even Tenerife.

“We are bringing people to Chepstow, we’ve had people come from as far as Tenerife, they came just for a burger.”

The committee granted the licence which will allow the van to operate from 9am to 2pm on Mondays to Thursdays and from 9am to 11pm on Friday to Sundays, with alcohol allowed to be served until 10.30pm in line with a condition requested by Gwent Police.

A noise limitor will also be fitted, to comply with a request from the council’s environmental health officer, with other condidtions requested by the police being to install CCTV in licensed areas, staff training, to log incidents and people being refused service and challenge anyone who appears to be under the age of 25 for identification.