The move means the café will not be allowed to sell alcohol or hot food after 11.30pm, reports Sebastian Mann, Local Democracy Reporter
A Walthamstow café has been stripped of its alcohol licence after customers were caught smoking in the premises.
Photographs taken by Waltham Forest Council’s licensing team show customers sitting at Wood Street Café, drinking coffee and smoking cigarettes.
There is a small recessed area at the front of the café, which the council considers enclosed and unsuitable for smoking.
The Health Act 2006 made it illegal to smoke in such spaces in a bid to reduce the harmful effects of secondhand smoke, which can increase the risk of heart disease, lung cancer, and strokes.
According to council documents, enforcement teams have visited the venue six times since August 2023 and found people smoking each time.
After a lengthy review, the council’s licensing committee voted to suspend its licence for one month and force staff to undergo training.
Licence holder Fatos Tobli will still be able to operate his business, but the venue will not be allowed to sell alcohol or hot food after 11.30pm.
During today’s licensing hearing (25th November), a lawyer for Tobli said the suspension constituted a “painful financial penalty on a small, family-run business”.
He argued that staff training had already been completed at the start of November, two months on from when the licence review was brought.
He said the instances of customers smoking was “unacceptable” but it had not happened since. In one case earlier this month, a patron was banned because they did not comply with the new protocols.
The council’s licensing team, however, was skeptical.
An officer told the committee that customers were smoking “continuously, every day” and a phone-call with Tobli revealed there was a “range of problems” in preventing it. He added that staff had been observed “walking past” customers and not asking them to stop.
A resident living nearby also attended the hearing, telling the committee that while he was “very pleased” when the “clean, inviting” café opened, he had “no confidence” the problem had been dealt with.
He was one of five locals who formally supported the café’s licence being suspended.
Wood Street Café will have 21 days to appeal the committee’s decision.
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