Holbeach: Restaurant owner admits employing illegal workers

An investigation in April found that of the eight workers present at the restaurant five were working without the correct permissions

An Indian restaurant owner in Lincolnshire has said he employed illegal workers to stay open after the Covid pandemic.

Siddique Faud Rahman, from the Chameli Indian Tandoori restaurant in Holbeach, faced a licensing committee on Tuesday.

Five of his workers were found without the correct permissions during an investigation in April.

The committee said it was not satisfied the premises would not employ illegal staff again and revoked his licence.

When he appeared before South Holland District Council's licensing committee on Tuesday Mr Rahman, denied being involved in "modern slavery" but told councillors: "I'm going to put my hands up, yes, we employed illegal workers."

He said because of the Covid lockdown his business had struggled to pay overheads and after the furlough scheme a number of his workers had not returned.

"I had to get some staff working, or I would have to close my business down," he said.

Mr Rahman added: "The workers were paid above minimum wage, plus accommodation and food … there was no modern day slavery. They were loved and cared for as my own family."

South Holland District Council's licensing committee said it "could not condone a deliberate decision to flout the law"

The Local Democracy Reporting Service said Mr Rahman told councillors: "If this license is revoked then we will probably have to close down the business because we cannot survive."

Sgt Lee Cotton from Lincolnshire Police, told the committee: "I appreciate the difficulties with the furlough scheme, but responsible businesses do not employ illegal workers.

"They take the necessary steps to employ legal workers."

Revoking the licence, the committee said the "calculated risk" taken by the business meant they "could not be satisfied the premises would never resort to employing illegal workers again if it faced difficult conditions."

Councillor Paul Redgate said: "You keep saying you had no choice, everyone has a choice, you made the decision not to employ legal workers."