Illegal bar and shisha lounge found in food shop

The first floor of a Bradford food store has allegedly been used as an unauthorised "party venue" complete with bar and shisha lounge.

The owners of Euro Fresh Supermarket on Southfield Road argued that space above the shop was a social meeting place where people drank tea and played Kurdish chequers.

But at a meeting of Bradford Council's district licensing panel on Thursday, council officers said they saw empty alcohol bottles, mattresses on the floor and people openly smoking shisha pipes at the property.

The owner of the shop, Mohammed Majed Ali, said he was no longer renting out the space and there would be no repeat of the late-night partying.

There had been complaints of noise coming from the upper floor of the shop building as late as 4:00 BST.

Details of the venue emerged at a meeting when councillors were due to decide on an application for the food store to sell alcohol until 2am, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Bradford Council's environmental health team had objected to the licence bid, claiming they had been "made aware of a bar area, shisha lounge and seating for 20 people and the serving of food all of which is situated on the first floor and not included in the application."

The objection added: "Complaints of loud music and noise from cars have been received with the complainant stating that the noise is coming from an unofficial party venue at the premises."

At the meeting Mr Ali was represented by licensing consultant Nick Semper, who said the objections related to a rented space above the shop – not the shop itself, and so the licence should be granted.

The space had been rented to an individual who used it as a "social space for friends to gather".

He added: "There is a pool table, a table for playing chequers, a game popular in the Kurdish community."

Members were told that following the complaints, Mr Ali no longer rents out the space above the shop.

He apologised for any noise from the upstairs space, and added: "Neighbours are more important than getting rent from a customer."

Officers told the meeting that West Yorkshire Fire Service had visited the upstairs space in October.

They found a fire alarm panel had been removed and there was no firefighting equipment, but there was a charcoal grill, bar and cooking facilities.

Mr Ali agreed to sign a document to confirm he would not allow the upstairs to be used for any purpose other than storage or use by the shop in the future.

Because of this, the panel approved the alcohol licence. However, as the shop currently only has planning permission to open until 18:00 BST, Mr Ali will need to apply for permission to amend those hours before the store can legally open that late.

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