Leicester: Plans to develop fatal blast kebab shop backed

Kams King of the Grill was destroyed as part of an insurance scam in 2011

The site of a kebab shop left vacant after being destroyed in a fatal explosion is set to be developed.

The site on Narborough Road has been deserted since 2011 when an explosion destroyed Kams King of the Grill.

Plans for a three-storey building were submitted to Leicester City Council in October.

It originally sought permission for the ground floor of the building to be a takeaway, but a revised scheme will see a two-storey structure.

The body of Fiaz Ahmed Ansari was found in rubble of the kebab shop hours after an insurance scam led to the blast in August 2011.

A man and woman from Birmingham were found guilty of his manslaughter after a trial at Leicester Crown Court.

'Welcomed' development

The Local Democracy Reporting Service said approval had been granted for a scheme in 2018 that would have seen a two-storey building built over the site with a takeaway and flat, but this was not implemented.

A revised plan will see the ground floor used for offices, with a flat above.

The council's planning officers said the new scheme was acceptable, adding "commercial use of the ground and first floors with [a] flat above would be welcomed".

While a takeaway is no longer proposed for the site, officers said this could change in the future and have included a number of conditions to ensure future residents of the flat are not unduly disturbed.

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