'Oldest gay bar' loses licence after raid

Napoleons describes itself as the "oldest gay venue in Europe"

A bar that describes itself as the "oldest gay venue in Europe" lost its licence after an immigration raid.

The owner of Napoleons, on Bloom Street in Manchester's Gay Village, was also fined £90,000.

Immigration officials went to the bar on 29 February and found four people working on visitor visas, a licensing hearing this week was told.

The committee also heard complaints of vermin and overflowing bins outside the venue.

'Rats, pigeons and vermin'

The fine was issued for employing two people who did not have a right to work in the UK, Azima Sultana, from the Home Office, told the Manchester City Council committee.

PC Alan Isherwood, from Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said there was "a history" of such things happening at the venue.

PC Isherwood said there had been problems with CCTV coverage, with staff unable to operate the system during the 29 February visit and others in March and May.

Neighbours had raised complaints of a shared yard "overflowing rubbish which has attracted rats, pigeons and vermin" for about two years.

Sarah Taylor, representing neighbouring Sackville House, alleged a fire escape route had been blocked, with council licensing officer Joe Robinson also claiming internal "fire exits have been blocked".

'Clear lack of accountability'

Rebecca Lowe, representing Napoleons, said many of the issues relating to the yard had been remedied and staff were going to be retrained on fire safety.

A new CCTV system had been installed at a cost of £7,000, she added.

"I think it's fair to say in absence of the immigration offences, GMP would not be here," she told the town hall committee meeting. 

"We would say we are here prematurely and the revocation of the licence in response to something that‘s not yet proven.

"If the licence is revoked and [the owner] loses months of trading which she cannot recover [from], that would not be proportionate."

Legal adviser to the panel, Laura Raine, said: "The committee considered all the options available for them today, but the main reasons [for revocation] are continuing breaches of conditions, illegal workers and a civil penalty notice, no management, clear lack of accountability, and a clear lack of training."

Napoleons, which was opened in 1941, will now be unable to serve alcohol.

The bar is currently owned by Napoleon HL Ltd, with company director Guixiang Liu registered as the designated premises supervisor.