Brighton restaurant waits to hear whether it can keep late-night licence after fracas
Neighbours’ representatives said that people living near a Brighton restaurant feared looking out of their windows amid concerns about noise and anti-social behaviour.
The claims were made at a licence review hearing called by Sussex Police and held by a Brighton and Hove City Council licensing panel today (Monday 6 October).
The police asked the panel of councillors to review the late-night refreshment licence held by Zaf’ron, in North Road, Brighton, after two nights of violence in August which ended in four arrests.
If the business loses its late-night refreshment licence, it will not be able to sell food and drink to takeaway and delivery customers between 11pm and 3am daily. It doesn’t sell alcohol.
The three councillors – Julie Cattell, Sam Parrott and Kerry Pickett – were told that the other options included imposing a three-month suspension, reduce hours, as offered up by owner Norulah Habibi before the meeting, or doing nothing
Sussex Police licensing officers spent an hour in private session with the panel, Mr Habibi and his representative, the licensing consultant Graham Hopkins.
They discussed the incidents of Friday 1 August and Saturday 2 August which are still part of a live police investigation.
Sussex Police previously gave details of an incident on the Friday night when an intruder smashed up the restaurant and attacked staff who took steps to defend themselves.
The perpetrator, a 63-year-old man, from Brighton, accepted a “community resolution”, requiring him to pay for the cost of repairing the damage.
When he returned about 24 hours later, he was subdued by staff and the investigation is understood to be looking at whether the staff went beyond reasonable self-defence in protecting themselves and the premises.
Four members of staff were arrested. Three of them remain on police bail while the incident is investigated. The fourth man was released and faces no further action.
Mr Habibi told the panel today that none of the men worked at the restaurant any longer.
Sussex Police licensing officer Mark Thorogood said that the force was concerned about several breaches of licensing conditions by Zaf’ron.
They included reports of trading after 3am, taking five months to join the Brighton Crime Reduction Partnership and a closed-circuit television system that recorded the wrong time.
Mr Thorogood told the panel that at 5.45am on Thursday 3 July an off-duty licensing officer had heard the noise of loud building work coming from the premises.
Mr Habibi said: “No, it can’t happen. There is no way.”
Mr Thorogood said: “It was me. I walked past. There was noise. Your front door was open. You had a car parked outside on double yellow lines and there was building noise coming from inside your premises.
“I’m putting that on the record and it’s in writing. I can confirm that was the case because I was shocked by hearing noise that time of the morning.”
He said that Mr Habibi had also not trained his staff in conflict management and had admitted withholding CCTV footage of the incident.
He said that the venue was becoming a public nuisance because of noise, as noted by the council’s environmental protection team.
And, along with the business’s sister site in Crawley, it was of concern to immigration enforcement officials after illegal workers had been found there.
Labour councillor Mitchie Alexander spoke on behalf of a neighbour who had contacted her through a family project where she used to work because the neighbour was too afraid to represent themselves.
Councillor Alexander said that children were afraid to look out of the windows of their home, particularly after the violent incident.
She said: “Residents have said they feel unsafe looking out of their window as they are afraid the staff will think they are spying on them. This includes teenagers and children who live opposite.
“The residents state their sleep is negatively impacted due to the coming and goings of cars and motorbikes visiting the shop during night-time hours. They say that vehicles will hoot their horns.”
She said that the neighbours fear retribution, violence and menacing behaviour for complaining about the anti-social behaviour.
Green councillor Sue Shanks, who represents West Hill and North Laine ward, said that she had received complaints about the business since 2024, adding that she always received a friendly welcome when raising concerns with staff.
Councillor Shanks said: “The issue is late at night for people who live opposite. It’s a residential area. There’s a big block of housing just opposite.
“The complaints are doors opening and music playing really loud, most of the evening and late at night when children are trying to sleep.”
The panel was told that when the premises changed from being a shop to a café in 2010, the planning permission included a condition that it close at 11pm.
Council planning officer Emma Lawrence said that if the restaurant continued to operate after 11pm, even with a licence, she would start planning enforcement proceedings.
Mr Habibi’s representative Mr Hopkins said that robust action was now being taken to address noise issues from delivery drivers. He proposed closing the business at 1am.
Mr Hopkins said: “We believe that will address the issues of noise that the residents have raised.
“It will also bring us in line with the pub next door but one so we won’t have any risk of people coming in later who may have been drinking heavily.
“This venue does not tolerate the presence of alcohol on the premises. We do not sell alcohol and have no intention of doing so.”
He also offered a phone number on the front door for residents and meetings every six months with neighbours and their representatives to discuss any concerns.
The panel retired to make its decision which should be made public within five working days.
It was crazy that a kebab restaurant and takeaway in the middle of a quiet and dense residential area – both over the road and around the corner too – was allowed a 3am licence in the first place. What on earth was the justification for that ? The police opposed from the start but were overulled. The licensing committee who approved this have some questions to answer.