Club could lose licence for employing illegal chef

A Wolverhampton bar faces losing its licence after employing an illegal worker as its chef.

Calif Bar, on Stafford Street, was fined £45,000 after it was discovered owner Isi Lucky Idahor had hired the staff member, who had no right to work in the UK, last year.

The woman, who was arrested by immigration officers, had held a valid visiting visa from September 2007 to March 2008, but did not return when it expired and had never held the right to work in the UK.

The restaurant and nightclub will have its licence reviewed by City of Wolverhampton Council, following a request from the Home Office's immigration enforcement team.

A Home Office report showed immigration officers had inspected the club in May last year and were given false personal details by a member of staff, who later said she had been working as a chef for three hours a day, once or twice a week for about a year.

She was given food and £40 in return for the work and admitted she had not provided Idahor with any ID or documents concerning her right to work.

The owner, who has run the city centre venue since 2014, told officers the woman had worked for him for around two months, doing small jobs on an irregular basis.

He also told officers he had seen a page from her passport, but was unaware she had no right to work in the UK.

The club went into liquidation in September last year, according to Companies House.

West Midlands Police said it supported the review as well as the Home Office's calls to revoke the licence.

The force said: "The evidence supplied by immigration compliance enforcement details that the premises were totally complicit in the employment of an illegal worker and this was not just a mistake or mix up in paperwork.

"The premises knowingly employed these people seemingly with the sole purpose of maximising their profit and minimising their expenditure, putting profit over the promotion of the licensing objectives."

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.

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