A HEALTHY fast food shop has been slammed for “not doing enough” to pay back a large council loan.

Earlier this month Chicken Town, which is inside the Tottenham Old Fire Station, extended its opening hours to start serving up dishes on Sundays.

However, critics have said this should have happened a lot earlier to repay the £210,000 loan from the Opportunity Investment Fund, supported by Haringey Council and the Greater London Authority, which helped the restaurant open in November 2015.

Martin Ball, chairman of the Bruce Grove Regeneration Stakeholders Group, believes not opening on Sundays from the start was “unacceptable”.

He said: “The fact that they didn’t open on Sunday from their launch reveals that the venture is an arts jolly and not being marketed like a business.

“Many Tottenham traders might fancy having Sundays off but they don’t have the luxury of over £300,000 from the council.

“I think the extra hours will be good for generating revenue, though it seems as if the place is rarely full.”

On top of the £210,000 loan, a grant of £90,000 was also given to the restaurant owners by the council and Greater London Authority.

Repayments of the loan will not be made until £50,000 is made in profit during any year after tax.

Mr Ball added: “The big question is whether they are serious about re-paying the loan and that is before the high hurdle of the £50,000 profit before repayments are made.

“They have got more opportunity to make more money. It is unacceptable for them to not be open on Sundays when they have to pay back so much money.”

Former Labour councillor Zena Brabazon is more sceptical of the new opening hours.

She said: “I do not think it will make a difference to their repayments.

“They were given a grant which they do not have to pay back anyway and have years to pay back the loan.

“They will not have an incentive to turn a profit if there is no real rush to pay back the money anytime soon.

“People have been against this project because so much money has been poured into it at a time when cuts to crucial services are being made by the council.”

Chicken Town bosses said the decision not to open on Sundays earlier was down to staffing issues, adding they are doing all they can to repay the loan.

A spokesperson said: “Of course we would love to pay the council back quickly.

“We are not the only new business in the area that has been given money by the council and we have not got any other funding apart from the loan.

“We had always planned to open every day, as we are a new business and need to increase our revenue but only held off on opening on Sundays due to the fact that we did not have enough staff at the time.”