Domino's wants permission to keep its Brighton operation open for deliveries until 3 a.m. Thursday through Saturday.

"There's an absolute need for late-night delivery," Domino's rep Bill Mohan told the Boston Licensing Board at a hearing this morning.

He said that rather than promoting drunken college students in their bids to go on all-night benders, delivery until 3 a.m. would actually help keep the uber-soused at home, by letting them punch in a number and get a pizza delivered, rather than trying to drive somewhere or stumble their way through the streets of the neighborhood.

Even more important, however, is that Boston has a 24-hour economy and that people working late-night shifts need sustenance to keep them going. Therefore, he concluded, Domino's is a vital part of keeping Boston's economy humming. He pointed to nurses at St. Elizabeth's Hospital as an example of workers who need cheesy fuel from the 464 Washington St. location.

Also, he added, local Domino's franchisees do a lot of community service.

City officials begged to differ.

Sgt. Michael O'Hara from Boston Police district D-14, noted the Domino's in Allston, already open until 3 a.m., is only a mile from the hospital and said Brighton Center is heavily residential and that residents deserve a good night's sleep.

Those college students? Police look at late-night Domino's as "rearming and resupplying these parties to go later and later."

He added he's worried 3 a.m. service would cause a domino effect in which all the other pizza places along Washington Street would start clamoring for 3 a.m. closing times as well.

Jay Walsh, from the mayor's office, said the Allston location could do just as well as the Brighton location in keeping the Boston economy from collapsing.

As has become typical at Domino's hearings, Mohan and residents exchanged allegations of misrepresentation. Board member Milton Wright, a former judge, said he is getting tired of that and said Domino's needs to do a better job of explaining itself.