Romford Shisha Bar Reduces Weekly Hours It Serves Alcohol As New Conditions Agreed With Havering Council.

Local Democracy Reporter Sebastian Mann today reports on Royal Lounge’s agreement with Havering Council.

A Romford shisha bar has reduced the weekly hours it can serve alcohol by 45 minutes as part of new conditions agreed with Havering Council.

The operators of Royal Lounge were granted permission by Havering Council to serve drinks until midnight on Fridays and Saturday. Their initial licence ordered them to stop at 11.45pm.

However, they will now have to stop serving alcohol at 10.30pm on weekdays – 15 minutes earlier than their previous licence permitted.

Though they can trade slightly later on weekends, they will lose a total of 45 minutes over the full seven days.

The conditions granted are a substantial step down from what applicant Mentor Saphia initially sought.

They initially requested to close at 2am on Fridays and Saturdays and serve alcohol until 12.30am. They also wanted permission to play live and recorded music between 11pm and midnight.

However, they retracted their proposals for live music during a licensing hearing on 21st March. They also agreed to stick to their current licence for serving hot food and drinks between 11pm and midnight on weekends, after originally requesting to push it back to 1.30am.

Jane Keane, the Labour councillor for the St Alban’s ward, submitted a formal objection against the original application ahead of the hearing.

She wrote: “Extending the drinking hours, combined with live music enhancing the venue’s attraction to a different type of clientele will make it more unsafe for existing residents living above and immediately adjacent to the property and for staff.”

She added that Romford, as a “thriving metropolitan centre,” attracts patrons from both London and Essex, but also “unwelcome visitors”.

In its decision, published yesterday (Tuesday 15th), the licensing sub-committee approved the application but said additional conditions were needed.

Staff will need to undergo training on the ‘Ask for Angela’ scheme – a safety initiative where patrons who feel unsafe can discreetly seek help by asking for a staff member called Angela – and signpost contact details for the licence holder.

They will also need to undertake training on the council’s licensing objectives, which include the prevention of public nuisance crime and disorder

Stay up to date with all of our latest updates and content by following us on our social media accounts!

We have created community pages where we will share our up-to-date stories happening in the area. Add the area closest to where you live.