A Barnham restaurant has had its premises licence revoked after hiring employees with no right to work.

The restaurant and takeaway Passage to India at 15 The Square, Barnham,  saw its licence revoked on Monday, August 19, by Arun District Council at a meeting of its licensing sub-committee.

This means the licensable activities allowed by the licence – the provision of late night refreshments and playing of recorded music indoors, and the sale or supply of alcohol for on and off premises – have been revoked.

The decision followed a licence review request of the restaurant made by the Home Office immigration enforcement and alcohol licensing team to the council, after immigration compliance and enforcement (ICE) officers visited the premises on January 27 this year.

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A report on the visit presented to the committee said five of the eight employees met by officers were illegal workers, and all bar one of them had no right to work in the UK, with one having a right to work in the care sector.

They said the licence holder and manager for the restaurant since 2005, Muhammad Yousef Islam, had provided officers with right to work documentation for some workers, but not for any of the eight employees met by officers during their visit.

Chief Immigration Officer for ICE South East, Harry Taylor, told the committee his team suspected some of the employees were also being paid ‘grossly’ under the minimum wage, partly due to compensation potentially being given in food and board.

He said: “We don’t routinely seek licence reviews but we do in selected cases where we have heightened concerns.

“Illegal working results in businesses that are not playing by the rules and undercutting legitimate businesses that are.

“Working illegally is a criminal offence and on conviction in England and Wales, an illegal worker could receive a custodial sentence of up to six months and an unlimited fine. 

Mr Taylor said one of the employees had worked there for at least two years, another was in breach of his visa conditions, being restricted to care sector work only, and another said he was never asked to produce a right to work by Mr Islam.

He claimed Mr Islam had used a ‘two-tier’ system of employment, willfully neglecting to check some of his employees’ right to work.

Mr Islam refuted this claim at the committee meeting, saying some of the employees had potentially ‘taken advantage’ of the job postings by telling him they had a right to work when they did not.

According to the Home Office report, Mr Islam told ICE officers during the visit that some employees were yet to provide him proof of their right to work in the UK, but he was expecting the documents ‘soon’.

He added at the meeting it was a ‘mistake’ made during a busy period when the business needed to take on more staff, adding he could ‘only apologise’ for his actions and hoped the committee show him forgiveness.

He said: “I have been in the business for more than 35 years and this is the first time this has happened. Only forgiveness can help me carry on in the business otherwise I will be out of business.”

According to Mr Taylor he had been told by Mr Islam that none of the five workers were still working at the restaurant, but that most workers had been bailed, with Mr Islam saying two had been released without charge.