First floor of Bradford food store allegedly used as unauthorised “party venue”
The owners of Euro Fresh Supermarket on Southfield Road argued that space above the shop was used as a social meeting place, where people drank tea and played Kurdish Checkers.
But at a meeting of Bradford Council’s District Licensing Panel on Thursday, members heard that Council officers visiting the property had seen empty alcohol bottles, mattresses on the floor and people openly smoking shisha pipes.
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Hide AdThere had been complaints of noise coming from the upper floor of the shop building as late as 4am.


But the owner of the shop Mohammed Majed Ali assured Councillors he was no longer renting out that space, and there would be no repeat of the late-night partying.
Details of the venue emerged at a meeting when Councillors were due to decide on whether the food store can sell alcohol between 6am and 2am.
The store had previously been granted a 1am licence by Bradford Council, but this expired when Mr Ali took over the running of the business.
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Hide AdBradford Council’s environmental health team had objected to the licence bid, claiming they had been “made aware of a bar area, shisha lounge and seating for 20 people and the serving of food all of which is situated on the 1st floor and not included in the application.”
The objection added: “Complaints of loud music and noise from cars have been received with the complainant stating that the noise is coming from an unofficial party venue at the premises.”
At the meeting Mr Ali was represented by licensing consultant Nick Semper, who said the objections related to a rented space above the shop – not the shop itself, and so the licence should be granted.
The space had been rented to an individual who used it as a “social space for friends to gather.” He added: “There is a pool table, a table for playing chequers, a game popular in the Kurdish community. It looks like a rather basic youth club. There is no alcohol, and no licensable activities taking place there.
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Hide Ad“The first floor doesn’t fall in the scope of the premises licence. It may be that some of the young people were noisy on one occasion, but it has no connection to the sale of alcohol in the shop below.”
Members were told that following the complaints, Mr Ali no longer rents out the space above the shop.
He apologised for any noise from the upstairs space, and added: “Neighbours are more important than getting rent from a customer.”
Officers told the meeting that West Yorkshire Fire Service had visited the upstairs space in October. They found a fire alarm panel had been removed, there was no firefighting equipment, there was a charcoal grill, bar and cooking facilities.
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Hide AdMr Semper said when he visited the space earlier that day there was none of these items, only a “decommissioned” shisha pipe.
When asked what he meant by decommissioned, he said it was under a counter, on its side.
The Council’s legal officer Robert Brown said: “So you mean a pipe that isn’t being used?”
Environmental Health officers said they had been alerted to the venue by the fire service. When they visited, they found “empty alcohol bottles” and people openly smoking while they were there.
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Hide AdThere were mattresses on the floor, there was a kitchen that was described as being in “quite a mess with a week’s worth of washing up” on the side and “memorabilia from the night before.”
Tables and chairs were set up for around 15 to 20 people and there were printed lists of food prices and trays of baklava.
They said they had sent details of this visit and their concerns to Mr Ali, but Mr Semper said he had not received the letter, and this was the first they had heard about this set up.
Mr Ali agreed to sign a document to confirm he would not allow the upstairs to be used for any purpose other than storage or use by the shop in the future.
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Hide AdBecause of this, the panel approved the 2am alcohol licence. However, as the shop currently only has planning permission to open until 6pm, Mr Ali will need to apply for permission to amend those hours before the store can legally open that late.
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