Southgate venue loses venue license after record number of noise complaints

The committee heard that the bar in Ashfield Parade had the “highest volume of noise” the council’s licensing team had ever seen, reports Grace Howarth, local reporter for Democracy

A cafe and bar in Southgate has had its license withdrawn following a record 35 noise complaints in eight months.

Enfield Council’s licensing sub-committee decided to remove Accro’s premises license and reject an application to transfer licensees following a series of noise complaints from local residents. The location was also previously known as 6 Kitchen and Rumors.

The commission deliberated on the decision for more than three hours during a hearing on Wednesday (17), which was partly due to the fact that the complainant, Stavroula Tsakou, needed a translator.

Halfway through the hearing, Stavroula’s translator was changed to a council officer who spoke the same language. This was because the legal adviser was unhappy with the questioning of the translator and the claimant during the council officer and police statements.

The parties are allowed to ask questions after the statements have been read.

The council’s senior licensing officer, Ellie Green, when she introduced the application, pointed out that the case had caused the “highest volume of noise” her team had ever seen.

The majority of complaints against Accro, located at 6 Ashfield Parade, were made in the early hours of the morning, which amounted to a “continuous breach of hours”.

Ellie said the owners had “ignored” the warnings and were issued with a Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN) following a breach of a noise abatement notice prior to the license review.

During the hearing, it emerged that Stavroula was unaware of the amount of noise complaints. She denied the police had contacted them, saying they were only notified when the council “sent an email from the police”, which was only “a few months ago”.

Ellie said: “They (the applicant) have had plenty of opportunities and chances to change their ways. Despite attempts at noise attenuation, this failed, proving that the venue is not a suitable place to play music above the background level.”

A premises license is required for a venue to sell alcohol or provide entertainment. Following the commission’s decision, the restaurant will only be able to function as a cafe.

The Metropolitan Police, which backed the review and license revocation, said its officers had received reports of smoking regulations being breached and “loud parties” sometimes lasting until “5am and 6am” when conditions said they were allowed to open only until 11.30. pm and 1.30 am.

On one occasion, police responded to reports of fighting outside the venue. The police officer present at the hearing said: “There are other off-licence premises nearby, but none with terminal times as late as those indicated for your premises.”

The police officer added that the request to transfer the license holders should be rejected as he felt it was an attempt to “muddy the water”.

Stavroula said the fight was not related to Accro and that they kept their doors “locked” when it happened. The claimant also stated that he had installed a sound limiter following communication with the council and expressed a desire to “work with the council to resolve the matter”.

Committee chairman Mahyn Bedekova, reading the decision of the hearing, made with councilors Chris Dey and George Savva, said: “The licensing sub-committee has generally taken the decision to advance the licensing objectives (and) reject the request for the transfer of premises . the license and, secondly, to revoke the license in its entirety.”

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