Kebab shop customers speak up in its hour of need

Turan Yilmaz had to find a new home for his popular business, which was previously located in a container on the side of a roundabout

There's nothing like the potential plight of a good doner kebab shop to rally a community into action, it seems.

Hundreds of happy customers of Yilmaz Kebabs in Chippenham have written to Wiltshire Council to persuade it to let the shop keep operating at a pub – raving about the "best takeaway in town" and even its "distinctive aroma".

The vendor recently moved to the pub after major roadworks forced it to leave its spot on Bumpers Farm A350 roundabout.

But Yilmaz Kebabs now needs retroactive planning permission to stay at The Pack Horse Inn. If the pleas made by customers to the council consultation are anything to go by, it has a good shot at approval.

Vendor Turan Yilmaz (centre) with the owners of The Pack Horse pub

The consultation, open until 27 August, has so far attracted more than 600 comments, seemingly entirely in support.

Many say the arrangement will help both the kebab shop and the pub boost each other's business.

One commenter wrote a particularly expressive appraisal, saying: "For over two decades, Yilmaz has been a beacon of gastronomic consistency and quality, serving what many – including myself – regard without hyperbole as the finest doner kebab in the county, if not the nation."

Others praised the owner's "friendly smile" and "genuine commitment to our town" while one simply wrote: "Very nice food."

The kebab shop owner, Turan Yilmaz, had made an appeal to the community when news of the roadworks emerged.

The Pack Horse Inn landlady Jo Cavaciuti welcomed him and his container business, calling it a "win-win situation".

Ms Cavaciuti said the pub has had food vans before but objections were raised to the council, hence the need for the current planning application.

Mr Yilmaz said: "We are good partners now. We have supported each other. Customers go in the pub, they're drinking at the pub, eating at the pub. They're happy."

One customer Matt Proud, who works at Bumpers Farm, near the kebab shop's previous location, said he sometimes stops on the way home from work, adding: "Now I get a beer as well."

Pub customers Chris and Paula Mills, while enjoying a cider and kebab, said: "While [Yilmaz Kebabs is] here, we're trying to support them where we can.

"The queues earlier were quite big. It's a local business supporting a local business."

A decision is expected by Wiltshire Council on 17 September.