London Road Hookah Lounge Loses Licence
Farfesh found to have had string of noise complaints against it
Farfesh Lounge is on the junction of London Road and Spur Road. Picture: Chris Longhurst
April 18, 2024
A hookah lounge in Isleworth has had its late licence revoked after the borough Licensing Panel backed an application by council officers to have it taken away.
A meeting on Monday 8 April considered the request submitted by Licensing Enforcement Officers in relation to Farfesh, which is on the junction of London Road and Spur Road.
Farfesh Lounge has a restaurant and holds regular live music events in the evening as well as hosting events such as weddings but members of the borough enforcement team say they have continued to have regular complaints about the venue remaining open well past its licensed hours.
Council officers have verified these complaints by visits to the venue and issued warning and guidance to the management.
The licensee, Mr MJD Alkazzaz, was not in attendance and the Panel considered whether an adjournment might be necessary to allow him to attend at a later date, but officers assured the Panel’s member that Mr Alkazzaz was aware of the meeting and had been contacted twice by officers to remind him
The venue was allowed to play live and recorded music until midnight on Fridays and Saturday and recorded music until 11pm Monday to Thursday and 10:30pm on Sunday.
Complaints about music being played after these hours and at too high a volume were first made in January 2023 and Authority Officers observed breaches taking place after these reports.
In July 2023 there were three consecutive weekends of complaints prompting a visit by officers. Over the last 6 months Officers from the Environmental Health out of hours team attended the premises on 13 occasions, with these being a mix of pre-programmed visits and responses to noise complaints. The premises were observed to be continuing to play music beyond licensed hours on four of those occasions.
Two local councillors, Katherine Dunne and Dan Bowring backed the revocation of the licence with Cllr Bowring saying residents had told him they felt like prisoners in their own home and had cars constantly going up and down the road.
In a statement made against the application Mr MJD Alkazzaz said that Farfesh has always tried to adhere to the requirements of its licence and that the complaints were from one person with a ‘prejudicial grudge’ against his business who had made it clear he would agitate until the council closed it down.
Officers reporting to the meeting dismissed this said that there were at least 10 complainants from different households. They added that they had made numerous visits to the premises and explained to Mr Alkazzaz what he needed to do to keep the licence as well as giving him verbal and written warnings before making an application to review.
The councillors on the Panel agreed with the officers’ assessment and voted to revoke the licence.
We have been unable to make contact with Farfesh or Mr Alkazzaz for comment.
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