Hundreds of locals have hit out at plans for a new McDonald’s to be built in Fareham, claiming the fast food restaurant would make roads too dangerous for children.

In plans submitted to Fareham Borough Council, McDonald’s said the new restaurant and drive-thru off the A27 Southampton Road would mean a multi-million-pound investment in the area and create 120 new jobs.

But most public comments received by planners are objections to the two-storey McDonald’s with an 86-seat restaurant and 37 car parking spaces.

The brownfield site of land is at a junction with the A27 Southampton Road and Farm Road, near Titchfield and next to an air cadet training corp hub. There are shops to the north of the unused land and a petrol station and hotel to the southeast on St Margaret’s roundabout. 

Main objections include traffic congestion, lack of parking, the impact on the cadet training corp and children, and how fast food outlets near schools are not appropriate.

Many locals, whose names are redacted by council planners, pointed out there is a new McDonald's in Whiteley, less than three miles from Titchfield. One said: “There are plenty of fast food restaurants in the local area at both Whiteley and Fareham, there is absolutely no need for another one.”

But one of the supporters of the plan added: “It would be a way to boost the local economy and provide much-needed employment opportunities.”

Consultants of a traffic plan, submitted with the application, said there would be “no material impact on the operation of the surrounding local road network” and the proposed car park and drive-thru lane have “sufficient capacity to accommodate the expected level of demand”.

The application to borough planners is to build a freestanding restaurant/takeaway with a drive-thru, car parking, landscaping and associated works, including customer order displays, as well as three separate advertising consent applications for various signage.

The borough council has set June 3 as a target date for a decision on the application.