The police have pushed back against plans for an Ilford restaurant to serve alcohol due to historic issues with an unlawful shisha lounge.
The operators of Brothers Lounge applied to Redbridge Council in June for permission to sell alcohol at the venue from 10am until 11pm on weekdays, and until midnight on Fridays and Saturdays.
Representatives from the restaurant were absent from a licensing committee meeting on Tuesday (12th August), where the Metropolitan Police urged councillors to reject the scheme.
The Met says Brothers Lounge has been unlawfully operating a shisha lounge since 2022 and contravening the Health Act 2006, which prohibits smoking indoors.
An officer from the force said: “Due to this blatant disregard of the law, we oppose this application.”
Licensing committees need to ensure that premises will uphold four licensing objectives, which include preventing crime and disorder.
The Met says the applicants “cannot be trusted” after environmental health officers found a shisha lounge still operating in a “substantially enclosed area” on 17 July, despite them previously saying they would cease operations.
No enforcement action has been taken, the health team said, but the business was being “monitored”.
Their application did not mention the shisha lounge – which are only permitted by the council in the town centre – but did list several standard safety measures it would implement.
They include installing a full CCTV recording system and keeping an up-to-date incident and accident log.
The council’s noise team also raised concerns due to the restaurant’s proximity to neighbouring housing, though no complaints have been received since December 2023. An officer recommended the venue instead stop serving alcohol at 9pm.
In their application, Brothers Lounge said they would only serve alcohol with meals and a “polite notice” would be displayed reminding patrons to keep quiet while leaving and that people who do not cooperate shall be “warned”.
They would also refuse to serve any patrons who were already drunk.
Their agent, Kaplan Consulting, did not respond to a request for comment.
