Leicester’s curry house could be out of business

A city curry house faces losing its licence. Curry Flavor Restaurant and Bar, in Uppingham Road, has been caught breaching its license conditions several times over the past two years.

Now Leicester City Council’s licensing enforcement team has asked councilors to review the license with the possibility of it being suspended or revoked entirely. Enforcement officer Lorraine Moore submitted a report to the licensing committee, saying the review was necessary to prevent public nuisance.

On Saturday 30 April 2022, two council officers visited the curry house to find customers drinking inside. Alcohol sales are only allowed with the purchase of a “substantial meal”, the venue’s license conditions state.

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It was “obvious that the kitchen was not open and no meals were being prepared or served,” officers said. A member of staff told them that “the kitchen was not open for food as the chef was out of the country”.

The licensee, Dharmesh Lacmo, was interviewed under caution when he returned to Leicester “in relation to an offense contrary to the Licensing Act 2003”. He said he “left the responsibility of running the headquarters in the hands of five other people.”

Ms Moore said the enforcement team did not believe the people left in charge had a license to run the business or “a knowledge of licensing objectives”. Mr. Lacmo received a warning letter.

Over three days on Friday 19 August 2022, 7 July 2023 and 1 September 2023, council officers witnessed loud noises coming from the restaurant. On one occasion, they reported loud noises, shouting and laughter around 11 p.m.

The doors and windows at the back of the building were open, allowing the noise to escape, they said. There were also “meeting in the back yard” people. The license conditions state that all doors and windows must be kept closed in all rooms where there is amplified music or speech.

Between Friday, July 7, 2023, and Wednesday, January 3, 2024, Ms Moore said the council received a further 12 calls reporting noise nuisance at the restaurant. On Monday, March 11, 2024, another noise complaint was made.

The caller said the establishment “stayed open all night” and reported that those inside were “playing cards, drinking and yelling all night.” The noise team met Mr. Lacmo regarding the complaint.

He said he was not there as he had gone home to “see his children” and “left the keys with the customers to lock them up”. CCTV footage showed two men smoking in the back garden between 00:49 and 01:59 on the day in question. They were then joined by a third man, whom the officers identified as Mr Lacmo.

Concluding her report, Ms Moore said: “Mr Lacmo has shown that he has failed to fulfill his responsibilities as a designated premises supervisor and premises licensee. He allowed a number of people and customers to be on the premises in his absence, beyond authorized hours.

“This has caused a noise nuisance on several occasions. Mr. Lacmo also allowed, in his absence, individuals to be key holders who began to engage in unauthorized activities under license.”

She added: “Leicester City Council has no confidence that Mr Lacmo has the ability to meet the licensing objectives or to comply with the license conditions.”

Councilors will meet next week to review the licence. They will have to decide whether to reject the review application, change the conditions of the licence, remove the supervisor appointed by the headquarters, suspend the license for up to three months or revoke it entirely.