Two late night kebab takeaways in Brighton have had their late night licences taken away from them after staying open later than allowed – and a third has been warned not to do the same.
Casba, Casba 2 and Golden Grill, all in Western Road, have licences to stay open until 3am, 1am and 2.30am respectively on a Friday and Saturday.
However, they have on several occasions on these evenings and others, been found to stay open up until 5am.
Now both Casba outlets , at the Hove end of Western Road, have had their late licence revoked – and Golden Grill, in Brighton, has agreed to a raft of new conditions.
All three have also struggled with hygiene – both Casba branches scored just one out of five in inspections last summer, which means major improvement is necessary.
And Golden Grill scored 0 out of 5 in an inspection last month, meaning urgent improvement is needed.
The licensing teams from Sussex Police and Brighton and Hove City Council gave verbal and written advice to the three food outlets a number of times.
But the decision was made by Sussex Police to apply formally for a review of all three of their licences.
Golden Grill contacted the licensing team at the police and agreed to add new conditions to their licence prior to the review hearing on Friday 25 April. These include formal staff training, provision of CCTV and membership of the Business Crime Reduction Partnership (BCRP).
Additionally it was agreed there will be a voluntary period of suspension where they will be unable to serve hot food after 11pm. This was accepted by a council licensing panel.
Casba and Casba 2, who are both owned by the same man, made no effort to contact Sussex Police before the hearings. All the evidence was heard by the licensing panel, including that of Sussex Police, the council licensing team, a local councillor, who was representing local residents, and the premises licence holder himself.
The licensing panel then decided that the premises licence of both the Casba venues should be revoked. This means that Casba and Casba 2 cannot legally serve hot food after 11pm and before 5am once the decision comes into effect.
The licence holder will have 21 days to appeal against the decision.
Sergeant Simon Morgan, of the Brighton and Hove Licensing Team, said: “This was not a step taken lightly and is not something that is asked for often. This is the first time a licence has been revoked for a kebab shop in the city.
“Breaches of a licence can often lead to increases in crime, disorder and public nuisance. In this case, Sussex Police have been supported by the Brighton and Hove Council licensing team and the local residents to bring these breaches before the licensing panel.
“We support the decision to revoke the licences of Casba and Casba 2 and to impose conditions and a period of suspension on Golden Grill. This sends out a clear message to other licensed premises in the city that breaches of conditions and licensing hours will not be tolerated.”
Councillor Lizzie Deane, who chaired the council licensing panel, said: “Given the location, it is extremely important that food outlets stick to their permitted hours.
“There were persistent breaches which significantly contributed to late night public nuisance, disturbed neighbours and seriously undermined the licensing objectives relating to public nuisance, crime and disorder.
“We would like to thank the work of the police and licensing officers to bring the matter to our attention and for their perseverance in trying to resolve the situation.
“We do not revoke licences lightly but we cannot tolerate this level of disturbance to a neighbourhood and will take action to protect the public and ensure the city’s licensing objectives are upheld.”
