Restaurants lose licences over illegal workers

Immigration officers found people working illegally at TAO Asian Street Food in Darlington

Two restaurants have been banned from selling alcohol after illegal workers were found at the premises.

Immigration officers visited Bambudda and TAO Asian Street Food in Darlington in July and found six people working illegally at the sites.

Investigators said a mother and toddler were among those living in poor conditions above TAO in Blackwellgate.

Benjamin Wu and his business partner Bich Thuy Nguyen said they were not responsible for employing kitchen staff at Bambudda, did not know some of the staff and were in the process of selling the business.

In the licence review, the Home Office argued it seemed "impossible for the licence holder not to know the workers, given they were working at his business and living in the flats above his other business".

Following the raids, Durham Police said the owners created new companies to transfer ownership of the restaurants, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Police described Mr Wu as being "obstructive" towards officers during the raids, but he insisted he fully co-operated and felt "the situation was discriminatory" towards him.

Bambudda had its licence revoked by Darlington Borough Council on Tuesday

He added: "We have revitalised spaces that were previously vacant, boosted the local economy, created jobs, served the community and contributed to local events.

"We acknowledge we didn’t manage it well and we want to take responsibility for that."

Ms Thuy Nguyen told the hearing that it was part of their culture to help provide food and shelter for people in need and they did not wilfully employ anyone without the correct paperwork.

Both restaurants had their licences reviewed and revoked by Darlington Borough Council.

Licensing committee chair Sonia Kane told Mr Wu and Ms Thuy Nguyen: "We don’t feel you are fit and proper people to run a restaurant."