Former Wolves player's bar has licence suspended

The bar opened in the High Street in 2017 and is owned by former Wolves player Mo Camara

A wine bar owned by a former Wolves player has had its licence suspended after being caught serving drinks after hours.

Chill Wine Bar in Tettenhall, Wolverhampton is owned by former Wolverhampton Wanderers defender Mo Camara.

It was handed the sanction for allowing three lock-ins earlier this year.

The bar, which opened in the village’s High Street in 2017, will have its licence suspended for a month after a ruling by Wolverhampton City Council on 31 July.

Mr Camara remains the venue’s licence holder but has been removed as the bar’s supervisor after allowing drinks to be served to a packed bar on consecutive weekends in February and again in March – despite a warning from the council.

Councillor Zee Russell, who chaired the hearing, said the council could not allow Mr Camara to get away with “serious breaches”.

Lisa Richardson-Lewty, representing Mr Camara, said there were no excuses for the after-hours opening and admitted it was wholly unacceptable.

Licensing officers at Wolverhampton Council had called for Mr Camara to be removed as the bar’s supervisor and for the licence to be suspended for up to three months.

Mrs Richardson-Lewty acknowledged Mr Camara had made poor management decisions and said the wine bar was now employing an established and knowledgeable supervisor.

The licensing hearing heard how many revellers in Tettenhall would finish their nights at Mr Camara’s bar after leaving nearby pubs at midnight.

The wine bar agreed to cut its closing time by half an hour to align with nearby pubs to prevent it from drawing crowds.

The investigation into the wine bar started with a complaint from Tettenhall councillor Jonathan Crofts over after-hours trading on two consecutive weekends in February this year.

People were reportedly seen entering the bar at around 02:00 GMT – an hour after closing – on 4 February and leaving at around 05:30, shouting and banging car doors.

Mr Camara said he was out of the country when the authority arranged to visit in February, and no other staff were able to access the wine bar’s CCTV.

Council officers visited later that month but were told CCTV footage was unavailable as it was only stored for two weeks – despite the bar’s licence stating that recordings must be kept for at least 30 days.

However, CCTV footage did show the bar full on 18 February, with drinks continuing to be served at 01:30.

Another complaint that the venue was open after hours on 18 March was confirmed by CCTV.

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