Popular restaurant near Bristol to have licence reviewed after visit from immigration enforcement

A popular Indian Restaurant in Somerset will be up before the council after repeated visits by immigration enforcement found people working there illegally.

Home Office Immigration Enforcement has called for a review into Posh Spice in Nailsea’s alcohol licence after “immigration offenders” were repeatedly found working at the restaurant, which it is claimed violates the terms of Posh Spice’s licence to sell alcohol and late-night food.

In their application to review the licence, immigration enforcement said that they entered the restaurant in June 2022 and checked the immigration status of the five people working there and found that four of them were immigration offenders without the right to work in the UK.

The employees reportedly told immigration enforcement that they had not provided identification to the manager when they were hired, or had immigration checks carried out.

Immigration enforcement stated that on a second visit in February 2023, three of those people were found still working at the restaurant, still without the right to work in the UK.

Marcus Johnson of immigration enforcement said: “The fact that immigration enforcement have visited the address twice and informed the management of this after making four arrests and have then returned and encountered the same immigration offenders with no right to work working on the premises again shows a blatant disregard for the conditions of their alcohol licence and the legal requirement to conduct immigration checks by the management of Posh Spice.”

A licence review could limit the restaurant’s ability to serve alcohol or late-night hot food.

A hearing before North Somerset Council’s licensing sub-committee will be held at Weston-super-Mare town hall on Monday April 17.