A kebab shop owner who applied for a drinks licence has been rebuffed by Brighton and Hove City Council.
Cem Ince currently has a licence for late-night refreshment at Mona Lisa, a kebab, pizza and burger takeaway in St James’s Street.
The current licence permits him to sell food and non-alcoholic drink after 11pm from Monday to Thursday until 1am the next morning. On Fridays and Saturdays, he can serve food until 3am the next morning – and on Sundays until midnight.
Mr Ince applied for a licence to serve alcoholic drinks to customers who were seated and eating a meal at the premises, formerly a Grubbs burger bar and Lokum restaurant.
He wanted a drinks licence from noon until midnight every day but Sussex Police and council licensing officials lodged formal objections. They said that the venue was in a high-crime area and had twice previously breached licensing rules.
Council licensing policy sets tougher rules for new licences in an area that includes St James’s Street because of high rates of drink-related crime and disorder.
At a council licensing panel hearing on Thursday 25 January, police licensing officer Hannah Staplehurst told councillors that, at weekends, more than a third of crimes in St James’s Street involved violence.
She said that the force had “no confidence” in Mr Ince after staff were seen selling food to a customer at 12.15am on New Year’s Day (a Monday) – outside its licensing hours.
Council licensing officer Donna Lynsdale said that the council also had no confidence in Mr Ince after the business operated without a valid licence during Pride last year.
The licensing panel – made up of councillors Paul Nann, John Hewitt and Ivan Lyons – voiced concern about the previous licence breaches.
Mr Ince was not present at the hearing so his agent Derya Teke answered questions from the panel.
The council’s decision letter said: “The agent answered questions in an open and honest manner but the panel felt that there was insufficient assurance.
“Furthermore, it was considered that there were not enough measures to mitigate the real risks in this location. There was also concern about limited visibility within the premises.
“The previous breaches, though not the overriding consideration, also did not give the panel confidence that the applicant would abide by the conditions and terms of the licence and shared the police and licensing authority concerns in this respect.”
How many food cafes and booze kiosks does it take to saturate a small part of town ,, never ending booze blx, how about a quota system, or 3 minus points – no more booze sales for them, never, encourage them kiosk and cafe keepers to clean up their act, plenty of booze available from reputable traders
There are already restrictions on new alcohol retailers in the City – look up the ‘cumulative impact zone’. St James’s street is in it. It’s not quite a quota system but there are limits that can be applied and it’s a high bar for new venues / retailers to reach to get permission.
And breaches of licence conditions are dealt with via licensing reviews – many of which are reported by B&H News and the relavent papers on the councils website in the meeting calendar.
Both licensing officers and police pay regular visits to all venues checking compliance and if you have evidence of breaches or real concerns about a venue (such as sales to minors) then contact the licensing team.
Multiple previous breeches seems like the nail in the coffin for this particular consideration.