Park Royal Shisha Lounge Fined After String of Rule Breaches
Sahara Lounge allowed smoking in enclosed spaces
The interior of the Sahara Lounge. Picture: Ealing Council
May 28, 2024
The owners and director of a shisha lounge in Park Royal have been ordered by a court to pay thousands of pounds after they were found to have persistently flouted the law.
Uxbridge Magistrates’ Court was toldthat Sahara Lounge, in Acton Lane repeatedly ignored warnings from Ealing Council officers that smoking shisha in enclosed spaces was against the law.
The prosecution followed six visits from council officers and repeated warnings. Officers noted that customers were smoking shisha inside the lounge and that drinks were being sold without a licence.
The business was given extensive advice and guidance on being smoke-free but, despite previous warnings, it continued to ignore the rules at subsequent visits.
New Sahara Lounge Ltd (the shisha business operator) and the sole director, Hashim Khalif Siyad, of the same address, each pleaded guilty at Uxbridge Magistrates’ Court on 30 April to three smokefree offences and for failing to register their food business. Mr Siyad was fined £246 for two offences and the business was also ordered to pay £4,262 for two offences.
In 2022, council officers carried out an unannounced visit at Sahara Lounge to check that they were complying with regulations including smoking, licensing, and food safety.
Last year, five businesses in the borough of Ealing were taken to court for breaches of the Health Act 2006 and Smokefree (Premises and Enforcement) Regulations 2006 – resulting in fines totalling more than £21,000.
Councillor Kamaljit Nagpal, the council’s cabinet member for decent living incomes, said, “This case is another great example of joint work by our enforcement teams to take action on serious and repeated breaches of the law.
“Like the rest of society, shisha lounge operators will be well aware of the harmful effects of second-hand tobacco smoke. It’s now 18 years since the national ban on smoking in all enclosed public spaces and workplaces was brought in, and there is simply no excuse for flouting it. We will continue to support local businesses to ensure they act responsibly and comply with smoke-free legislation. If you are a shisha business operator, I encourage you to check out our advice.”
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