A family business has won permission to keep selling pizza from a van outside a Kingston church, after concerns were raised its location was "disrespectful".

Kingston Council has granted Vesuvio on the Road a 12-month street trading licence to sell food and soft drinks from a van outside St Pius X Roman Catholic Church, in Norbiton, which it had been doing under a six-month temporary licence.

Objectors argued it was unsuitable to park a pizza van across two parking bays outside the church, at a licensing hearing on Tuesday (January 27). The plans, which are only for the evenings, received 22 written objections from residents.

Richard Smith, representing members of the church, including Father Alfred Ebalu, said they did not want to stop the business trading and were only concerned about the location of the van and disturbance this caused.

He said: "The church building and its immediate surroundings provide an area of peace and calm appropriate to the long-established traditions of a place of worship. Trading from a pizza van at the gates of the church in such a location is demonstrably unsuitable – even, some say, disrespectful."

Mr Smith told the meeting the location of the van caused "disturbance and inconvenience" for visitors trying to get into the church, particularly disabled and elderly people. He said the rules of the parking bays had been negotiated years ago to help people access the church.

He added: "We've reviewed these concerns over the last few weeks and asked ourselves if we're being unreasonable, are we being too protective of the church and its environment, but we conclude that our concerns are reasonable and fair.

"A place of worship at an established church, indeed any faith group, should be allowed to continue its long-standing worship and practise without intrusion or disturbance."

Younes Hamade, the council's principal engineer, also wrote to the authority stating he could not support the application due to the "significant demand for on-street parking" in the area.

Alessandra Rea, who runs Vesuvio on the Road with her husband Vincenzo, told the hearing they understood parking was a sensitive issue, but the bays were for the public, not reserved for the church, and there were usually spaces nearby as the business only traded in the evenings.

She said: "We fully respect that this location is beside a place of worship and that there are sensitive occasions such as funerals and weddings. We already don't trade on Holy Days of Obligation and… when a funeral is in place, if seven days of notice [has been] given."

Alessandra said they had shown they could operate responsibly from the six months they had traded so far. She said: "Our business is food only. We do not sell alcohol. We do not attract late-night crowds. Our customers are mainly local residents and families, respectful people who come to buy dinner and go home.

"Many of our customers also pre-order their food and come only to collect it. This means there are no long queues, no gathering and no disturbance."

She added: "This business is not a hobby or extra income. This is our only source of income. We have four children and we rely on this business to feed our family and cover essential living costs."

Alessandra claimed a small group of people had tried to stop the business trading by sending repeated complaints to the council, encouraging other businesses to oppose them and creating problems so it was harder to work.

She added the business was only asking "for a fair chance to continue working legally and responsibly".

Independent Councillor James Giles claimed he had received emails about a handful of people who he believed had been "very abusive and actually quite detrimental to a family that is just trying, in this challenging economic environment, to make a living and make a go of it".

The committee decided to grant the 12-month licence, allowing the pizza van to operate from 5pm to 10pm on Tuesdays to Saturdays. Conditions on the licence mean the business can't trade on Holy Days of Obligation and when funerals take place inside the church, if it gives seven days' notice.