Residents on a small pedestrianised alley in Angel are complaining about the noise from deliveries at a warehouse operation set up in the tiny residential street.

Gorillas Technologies were quizzed at a council licensing meeting as to why they had set up their “dark store” in a small unit in Godson Street, which neighbours say reverberates to the noise of trollies servicing its grocery deliveries.

Islington councillors granted an alcohol licence despite neighbours' objections to the Berlin-based firm, which promises 10-minute deliveries within the local area

Gorillas’ legal representative told councillors on the licensing committee: “They have lots of little warehouses all over the place to deliver groceries within a small radius but a very fast response time.

"They opened one in Hackney before this one, and have applied for about 25 around London, Manchester and Southampton.

“The difficulty for the residents is that all of the objections are nothing to do with the licence application.

“What the residents are saying is that they don’t want Gorillas there, and that’s a problem for them, I’m afraid, that can’t be solved, because we are there, and whether a licence is granted or not, we are going to be there anyway.

"They’ve got it and they’re going to have to deal with it," they added, explaining that given the small unit is less than 500 sqm2, it operates under permitted development rights, meaning there are no planning restrictions.

One neighbour said: “I live round the back and I can still hear the trollies there.

“Godson Street is an alleyway of riven stone, pedestrianised, and is filled with residents.

“We were assured that they would only use soft-wheel trollies, but the wheels are the most important issue.

“This is a family street. We want to plant trees. We want this to be an oasis.”

Councillors granted an alcohol sales licence on the condition that loading and unloading of trollies would be carried out “to minimise noise and not give rise to nuisance,” with licensable goods deliveries restricted to between 9am and 4pm.