Kebab shop loses licence after employing illegal worker

Staff at Brothers Kebab in the High Street, Gosport, are said to have deliberately blocked CCTV to prevent the worker from being detected. The kebab shop not be able to serve customers late at night from next month after members of Gosport Borough Council’s licensing sub-board revoked its licence.

A 21-day appeal process follows the decision, which means Brothers Kebab can operate during its usual working hours during this time. But if no appeal is lodged with the Magistrates’ Court, the licence will officially be revoked on April 15, and the shop must close at 11pm daily.

The decision was made following an application from the Home Office after concerns surrounding crime at the shop were flagged.

A spokesperson from the council said: “There is no place for illegal working in our area, it puts legitimate businesses at a disadvantage and often exploits vulnerable people.

“The licensing sub board has taken its decision based upon the evidence provided to them.”

During a meeting held by the committee on March 24, it was heard that the worker did not have a right to work in the UK, and they were “in a role that isn’t on the shortage occupation list”.

The minutes of the meeting said: “It is easy to check on worker status, and checks should have been made.

“There had been a disregard for legal obligations, a lack of effective management and compliance, and compromised safeguarding of vulnerable individuals.”

During the meeting, the licence holder said the problems had been fixed and blamed a former director who is no longer involved.

They also said the business had traded without issues for a year.

But committee members said there had been a lack of proper management and that they were not satisfied that the business was being run any differently. Although the licence was later transferred to a new company, councillors found that one of its directors had been involved when the breaches took place.

They said these raised doubts about the alleged changes made. In their decision, councillors said they had no confidence that the business would follow the rules in the future, and the licence was revoked.

The kebab shop was approached for a comment.