Bar licence refused after police concerns

A bar has been refused a licence after concerns were raised by the police and fire service.

Elizabeth Figueira applied for a licence from Peterborough City Council to cover the sale of alcohol, live and recorded indoor music, indoor dancing and late-night indoor refreshments at Nubia Lounge Bar on Lincoln Road.

Cambridgeshire Police objected to the plans and criticised Ms Figueira, and her representative Carlitos Balde, who was a previous director of the business, describing them as "irresponsible operators".

Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue highlighted safety concerns due to a structure built in the shared back yard without planning permission, according to Local Democracy Reporting Service.

During the licensing committee meeting, Mr Balde, who owns the lease to the building on Lincoln Road, translated for Ms Figueira.

He told the meeting that Ms Figueira was hoping for a "second chance" following the lapse of her previous licence.

The meeting heard how the applicant was asked by police to either demolish the structure built in the rear yard or apply for retrospective planning permission, but neither had been done.

Licensing committee chair, Councillor Chris Wiggin, questioned how Ms Figueira could follow all the other licence conditions given she could not follow basic instructions given about the structure by police.

Wiggin referred to "numerous incidents" in the past where the premises' licensing conditions were not met and police had to attend.

A council report said that an incident also took place in January 2021, when Mr Balde owned the licence, and the premises was opened despite Covid restrictions being in place.

During the investigation into the Covid breaches, the council report stated that Mr Balde was deceitful in his responses to the police and council officers.

Licensing officer, PC Paul Hawkins, told the licensing committee that despite Mr Balde and Ms Figueira being "very nice people", it would not be a safe business under the current tenancy.

Ms Figueira told the committee that she would run the premises for six months if the licence was approved and, if it did not make a profit, then she would sell it.

However, announcing the committee's decision to refuse the licence application, Wiggin said: "We attach considerable weight to the representations made by the police.

"We make this decision based on the history of the director and Mr Balde, in connection to the previous operation of the premises."

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