Restaurant's licence revoked after kitchen worker was found to be illegally in the country

A Sleaford-area restaurant has had its premises licence revoked after a man working in the kitchen was found to be illegally in the country.
Lincolnshire Police.Lincolnshire Police.
Lincolnshire Police.

North Kesteven’s Alcohol Licensing Committee has revoked the premises licence of La Royale restaurant, Newark Road, North Rauceby.

The decision to permanently revoke the licence was taken today (Wednesday) at a licence review hearing following the evidence presented by Lincolnshire Police Alcohol Licensing Team.

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This follows a raid on the restaurant on November 27 last year by officers from the Alcohol Licensing Team, Immigration and HMRC.

Acting on intelligence received, officers attended and searched the restaurant.

Checks were made on all workers present.

One man working in the kitchen was found to be illegally in the country and a second man, who due to his current immigration status was barred from any form of employment, was found to be working as a waiter, said police.

The committee agreed with police that the restaurant was undermining the Licensing Objectives in relation to the prevention of crime and disorder.

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Sergeant Kimble Enderby said: “These joint agency operations are all intelligence-led, targeting premises where we have received information that persons are being illegally employed at the venue or HMRC believe that there are financial irregularities in the way the business is being run. The owner of the business, Mahmudur Rahman failed to do the simple checks required to prove a worker is lawfully able to work in this country. Despite admitting he knew what these checks were, he could give no explanation for not doing them. The decision of the committee sends out a clear message that businesses behaving in this way face the most severe sanction. The work being undertaken by the Restaurant Taskforce, comprising of the three agencies, is ongoing and there are more operations planned in the weeks ahead. The decision of the Licensing Committee means that La Royale will no longer be able to sell any alcohol and will be unable to sell hot food past 11pm. The premises has 21 days to lodge an appeal against the decision, if this is not made the Premises Licence is revoked.”

Sgt Enderby added: “Lincolnshire Police Alcohol Licensing Team, in partnership with Immigration and HMRC is committed to the investigation, detection and prevention of all offences associated with or around licensed premises. This includes illegally employing workers, human trafficking and exploitation of persons, as well as ensuring the safety of members of our communities using these venues. We would actively encourage members of the public to come forward with any information of this kind information either by contacting the police direct or ringing Crimestoppers anonymously.”

Report concerns to police on 101 or call Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.