St Annes restaurant at centre of police probe has licence revoked

Fylde Council has agreed to a request by police to remove the premises licence of the Ploy Thai Seafood Restaurant in St Annes, meaning it can no longer sell alcohol.

An application by PC Guy Harrison, licensing officer, to a Fylde licensing hearing stated that on last July police were told two teenage boys had been shown videos of sexual activity while on the restaurant premises, and that sexual comments were made to them.

As a result of this a man, whose name was redacted in PC Harrison’s report, was subsequently interviewed by police, with that investigation continuing.

One day later, police said they were called to a premises in Blackpool, by a distressed young woman who claimed she been trafficked into the country and forced into sex work.

PC Harrison’s report, which again removes the name of the suspect, states: “A foreign female claimed to police that she had been trafficked to Britain earlier that year and was being forced to work as a prostitute.

"She stated she had been made to pay thousands of pounds a month to the male that owned the property as she owed him for bringing her into the country.

“She also stated that he had possession and control of her passport.”

The male she identified as the trafficker was subsequently arrested and interviewed, with investigations continuing into potential slavery offences.

The police application further stated: "The alleged offences are extremely serious, and anyone convicted of them could potentially face a considerable prison sentence.

“Given the gravity of the allegations and the fact that in the case of one of them, the place of the offence is given as the licenced premises itself, the police would ask the committee that the licence for Ploy Thai Seafood be revoked.”

The licensing panel decision said that it was mindful that the incidents that formed the basis of the application had not yet been the subject of criminal convictions or even charges and did not directly concern licensable activities at the premises.

But the panel members took into account guidance that “there is no reason why representations giving rise to a review of a premises licence need be delayed pending the outcome of any criminal proceedings” and that “reviews may arise in connection with crime that is not directly connected with licensable activities”.

The council added: “The panel gave significant weight to the incidents alleged by the applicant to have taken place on the premises.

"Those matters gave rise to serious concern about the adequacy of safeguarding provisions in place at the premises. In those circumstances, the licensing objective of the protection of children from harm was not being promoted.

“The panel considered whether it would be appropriate to remove the designated premises supervisor but felt this would not solve the problems with the premises management, because the holder of the premises licence was a company of which the designated premises supervisor was sole director and the only person with significant control.

“In the circumstances, the panel felt the only action available that would address the need to promote the licensing objective of the protection of children from harm was to revoke the licence.”

The restaurant had previously been given a one-star hygiene rating after investigators found it to be filthy.

They discovered a gas cooker had no control dial, food was stored in broken containers without labels and plants were growing through walls.

The council added in a statement: “The licence holder has the opportunity to appeal the decision and the revocation will come into effect at either the end of the appeal period (21 days) or when the appeal is determined.

"It should be noted that the revocation will remove the authority for the premises to sell alcohol, or for hot food/drink to be sold after 2300 hours. It will still be able to operate as a ‘dry restaurant’.

"The health and safety/food issues raised at the hearing are still being dealt with by the appropriate team.”