Ottolenghi is set to open a new restaurant and deli serving wine in Richmond town centre after its licence was approved.

The popular deli chain from celebrity chef and restauranteur Yotam Ottolenghi has won permission from Richmond Council to open seven days a week in an empty unit on Hill Street.

The decision comes after neighbours raised concerns about the plans at the council's licensing hearing on January 29.

They argued the location is unsuitable for the new restaurant as it is already busy and customers could add to disturbance in the area.

Resident Sean Chapman said the restaurant would pump "out into the evening dozens of people per night into an area that's already febrile".

He added: "It's extremely disconcerting to live there now and I'd like to suggest that you all have a duty of care to the town and to your council taxpayers to ensure that this kind of application gets reined in because it is becoming completely intolerable to live here." 

Neighbour Rachel Woolner also said she was "very distraught" at the application, with particular concerns about being disturbed by noise from the venue.

She added: "I'm really concerned about the noise of people coming and going, the constant bikes coming to collect… orders."

Advocate Marcus Lavell, representing Ottolenghi, said residents in the town centre deal with "alcohol-fuelled disorder" from local nightclubs and bars, but he argued opening an Ottolenghi in the area would not add to these problems as it would be a small restaurant focussed on serving food.

Wine will only be sold with food at the venue, which will have capacity for around 40 people.

Mr Lavell said Ottolenghi does not have queues outside its venues as it offers virtual queueing.

He added the new restaurant would have sound insulation and offered for contractors to visit Ms Woolner's flat to make sure she could not hear any noise from it after the conversion works have been carried out.

The advocate said Ottolenghi would bring a strong brand to a unit plagued by a "series of failed businesses" since 2009.

He described the chain's popularity as "sustainable and a sustainable business is a maintainable business that can meet its requirements and obligations under various regulations".

He added the restaurant will "draw people during the daytime as well as the evening to a high street – those people will then be able to make use of the other amenities on the high street, such as those retail outlets that still exist that are still able to keep their heads above water in these difficult times". 

Ottolenghi already has eight venues in London.

In a report outlining its decision to approve the plans, the council's licensing committee said Ottolenghi "is an experienced professional operator and no problems had been identified in its other locations, most of which sit beneath residential premises".

The committee ruled the chain had showed there would be "no negative cumulative impact" on the council's licensing objectives as the restaurant will be focussed on serving food, rather than booze, "with modest hours and will support people visiting the area during the day".

It also added conditions to the licence which it said, on top of those already agreed, would help to ease residents' concerns.

The application includes conditions banning any noise, fumes or smells from the venue that would disturb residents.

Extra conditions added by the committee include banning Deliveroo or similar services being offered at the restaurant after 10pm, and requiring it to put in place a strategy to manage customers leaving the venue.

Ottolenghi is set to open from 9am to 10.30pm every day at 36-38 Hill Street.

It is also set to sell wine at the venue from 10am to 10pm on Mondays to Saturdays, and from 12pm to 10pm on Sundays.