A Persian restaurant has been stripped of its permission to sell alcohol after neighbours complained that its regular late-night events made them feel like they were living “in the middle of a concert”.

Shanzelize, in Kilburn, saw its alcohol licence revoked by Brent Council after councillors found they had “no confidence” in the restaurant’s management.

It followed reports of the restaurant using an outdoor tent for belly dancing events and shisha smoking, for which it did not hold a licence. There were also dozens of noise complaints lodged against the premises, which had been forced to pay “at least £12,000” after it ignored the council’s warnings.

Several local residents wrote to the council, urging it to remove Shanzelize’s licence as they felt it was a contributing factor to late-night noise in the area. One resident said it was like living “in the middle of a live concert”, while others said it was “unbearably loud”, especially during the weekends and around public holidays.

Council officers, who recommended the restaurant’s licence be reviewed, said they had “exhausted all avenues” to engage with the licence holder, Hashem Beik Mohammadi. They argued he had “failed to take these matters seriously” and that he would continue to do so without this intervention.
They suggested the main restaurant area, which was licensed to serve alcohol and have live entertainment until midnight each night, was used as a thoroughfare to get to a “nightclub” part of the site.

Video footage presented to the council’s licensing sub-committee showed several occasions where customers entered the restaurant well past its opening hours.

In one incident, dozens of people spilled out of the venue at 4am – councillors said this showed Mr Mohammadi was “not in proper control” when it came to running his business safely.

Robert Sutherland, the lawyer representing Mr Mohammadi, explained these incidents took place without his client’s knowledge and, when he became aware, fired those responsible.

He suggested the council consider temporarily suspending the licence to allow Mr Mohammadi to put more measures in place to show he was committed to upholding the licensing objectives.

But councillors, following the evidence supplied by licensing officers, fire safety officers and the Metropolitan Police, felt they had been left with “no choice” but to revoke it.