Chicken bar with illegal workers could lose licence

Roy Francis, who is responsible for Chicken N Beer's premises licence, is no longer a director of the company that controls it

A chicken bar where two illegal workers were found after a raid by immigration officials should be stripped of its licence to sell alcohol, police said.

The man and woman ran out of the back of Chicken N Beer in Stanfield Road, Bournemouth, when they were spotted by the officials in February.

HM Immigration Enforcement said the man entered the UK illegally on a small boat in 2022 and that neither of them had ever been allowed to work in the country.

The bar's premises licence holder, Roy Francis, said he had stepped down from being a director of the company that runs it before the man and woman were found working there.

BCP Council's licensing sub-committee was told the man's claim for protection was withdrawn in February 2024 after he absconded.

He told immigrations officials he had worked as a cleaner at Chicken N Beer for "nearly a month" and said he provided no official documentation to prove his right to work.

The woman entered the UK on a student visa in 2023 but her student leave expired in May 2024.

She claimed protection, which is still under consideration, last November.

The pair said they were paid below the minimum wage and in cash, with the man telling officials he received £6 an hour for working three hours a day.

Mr Francis said the management of the venue's licence is set to be transferred to another company.

But BCP Council said that while it has received an application for the transfer, it has not received any payment for it.

The licensing sub-committee will make a decision on the licence, which could result in it being revoked, changed or left as it is, within the next five working days.