A beach restaurant which had already been fined thousands of pounds for a mice infestation has now lost its alcohol licence after it was repeatedly caught breaching conditions.
Brighton police and the council’s seafront team were concerned about Azure’s ever-changing management since it was granted a licence in October 2013.
It was also caught several times selling alcohol without a licence, and later giving customers a cup of cold pasta when they ordered a drink in an attempt to circumvent the requirement that alcohol must be served with food, not vice versa.
Brighton and Hove City Council’s licensing panel heard an application for a review last Thursday and today announced it had decided to revoke Azure’s licence as despite “unprecedented” intervention from licensing officers and three closure warnings there had still been repeated breaches.
The panel said: “The panel consider that the only appropriate option in this case is revocation of the licence. Since the licence was granted in October 2013, there has been unprecedented intervention by the licensing authority and the police.
“The business has been seasonal and so in every summer season that the premises has been operating there have been many visits by the licensing authority and police and efforts made to engage the licence holder regarding the operation of his licence and the conditions on it.
“Advice has been given and warnings issued which were largely ignored by the licence holder or not taken seriously. Three closure notices were issued by the licensing authority and the police. These were in effect a series of yellow cards.
“There has been no proper management control and a total of seven designated premises supervisors in this time with an eighth in waiting.
“The panel has listened to the submissions of the licence holder and his assurances that going forward he would uphold the licensing objectives and conditions on his licence. However, the panel does not have any confidence that this will happen.
“The panel consider that the responses of the licence holder to the advice and warnings issued illustrate a wilful lack of understanding and appreciation of the importance of adhering to the conditions on his licence.
“We find that the offer of a cup or plate of cold pasta to customers buying alcohol was purely designed to circumvent the restaurant condition which states that alcohol must be sold ancillary to a table meal, and not the other way around.”
