CUSTOMERS are fighting to save a long-running 24-hour takeaway which may be demolished to make way for a cycle lane.

The Log Cabin, close to Hollow Ponds in Whipps Cross Road, Leytonstone, will be pulled down under plans to improve access to the Olympic Games.

Owner Jamie Phillips, 27, said he would be devastated to lose the cabin, which has been in his family for 30 years He has been given until May 16 to collect enough signatures to show there is widepread support for the takeaway.

He said: “I am very upset. This is my livelihood.

“I will lose my house and everything if this place closes.

“Last year alone I spent £30,000 kitting out the place. It means everything to me.

“If it is going to be so substantial, why do they not put the cycle lane in the main carriageway, as they have around the borough?”

Customers have offered their support for the business, which is used by staff at nearby Whipps Cross University Hospital, cabbies, lorry drivers and other night-time workers.

A total of 180 people have signed an online petition, which went live on Monday.

Supporters questioned the logic of closing the business.

Danielle Maraldo said: “Working a shift pattern for an emergency service, there are very few places open all night to go and get hot food and drink.

“The Cabin has fed and watered me for the last 10 years, there is nothing else like it in the surrounding area, it would be a great loss to the late night working community.

Karen Rane said: “I think it is disgusting that someone has to lose their business just because of the Olympics.

Barbara Tate: “I’ve been eating there since I was a kid, I'm now 42 and still to this day, I use it regularly. When are we going to stop destroying our history?”

Waltham Forest Council's Cabinet Member for Environment, Cllr Clyde Loakes, said: "The Corporation of London owns the land on which the Log Cabin sits.

"The Council has repeatedly asked the Corporation to release land, so the proposed new cycle path and footway can be diverted around the cabin to protect the livelihood of the Cabin owner and allow his business to remain open.

"Unfortunately, the Corporation have categorically refused to allow this to happen during more than six months of negotiation.

"The Council has now reluctantly been forced to consider de-designating the land the cabin stands on to allow the cycle path and footway to be built.

"We really hope the Corporation will reconsider."

He added that Whipps Cross Road is a congested route and needs 'significant' improvements to allow it to cope with the thousands of extra pedestrians, cyclists and drivers who are expected to use it during the Olympics.

To sign the petition visit www.ipetitions.com/petition/savethelogcabin/