Venue's licence suspended for serving after hours

De Fusion Bar and Restaurant in Wolverhampton had its licence suspended for two weeks

A city centre club has had its licence suspended after being caught selling alcohol after hours.

City of Wolverhampton Council took the action over De Fusion Bar and Restaurant in Exchange Street, Wolverhampton, with a two week suspension.

It comes after the venue was found to have breached several conditions of its licence – including serving alcohol after hours.

A licensing hearing heard an inspection ahead of a Wolves home game in January found the venue had not used door staff ahead of the game and was serving pints in glass rather than plastic glasses.

Staff were also not trained properly, there were no incident logs and "insufficient" records on maintenance checks and fire risk assessments, councillors heard.

The venue also did not have drug safety notices nor could it provide CCTV within 24 hours.

Owner Ikenna Orajaka told the hearing the venue had been struggling to attract customers for months and could not afford to hire door staff.

He claimed, to prove his point, the club had received no customers during an hour-long visit by the council.

Mr Orajaka said the venue would usually remain empty on Saturday afternoons but he would open the bar for just a single family on occasions.

"It is an error on our part but we did it just for him," he said at the hearing, after councillor Jill Wildman told him "the rules applied to everyone."

'Serious' breaches

A supply of the wrong CCTV to the council was a "genuine mistake" according to Mr Orajaka – footage that nevertheless still proved that drinks had been served after hours.

Mr Orajaka told the hearing: "Am I inexperienced? Yes. Have I made mistakes? Of course. Am I irresponsible? I am not."

The bar owner's presentation "impressed" the committee, according to licensing chair, councillor Zee Russell.

She had earlier said the venue was one of the "worst cases" she had heard, with Mr Orajaka telling councillors he had gone to great lengths to tackle the concerns raised in the inspection.

Nevertheless, the committee ruled the breaches were of a "serious nature" to warrant a two-week suspension.

The venue's closing time remained at 03:00 BST – with drinks allowed to be served until 02:30 BST - after Mr Orajaka pleaded for the committee to reconsider moving the club's closing time to 01:00 BST, saying the restriction would put him out of business.

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.