A Balham takeaway owner has been fined thousands of pounds after being caught breaching opening hours and causing late night noise just days after he had appeared in court for the same offences.

Ikramuddin Rudwal, who runs Flavas takeaway in Bedford Hill, has repeatedly kept his fast food business open beyond his permitted trading hours of 2am.

Neighbours have complained that his customers shout, argue, slam car doors or leave their car stereos blaring when they buy food in the early hours of the morning.

Food was often still being served at Flavas after 2.40am.

Despite only pleaded guilty to breaching licensing laws at Richmond Magistrates Court on August 13 - Mr Rudwal was caught breaking the same laws again just four days later.

He was caught serving customers at 2.21am on August 17 while the following night Flavas was still open at 2.13am.

A week later it was offering food to customers at 2.24am, while in September it was twice found to be operating beyond 2am.

For this second string of offences Mr Rudwal was fined £2,000, and ordered to pay the council’s prosecution costs of £2,459 and a victim surcharge of £40.

This penalty come on top of the £1,600 he was fined and the £3,737 in legal costs he was ordered to pay in in August.

The council’s environment spokesman Councillor Jonathan Cook said: "These rules are designed to strike the right balance in allowing Mr Rudwal to run a successful business but also giving his neighbours some peace and quiet.

"If he cannot stick to the rules, and continues to trade beyond his permitted opening hours then he faces the very real prospect of losing his late night trading licence altogether.

"Mr Rudwal has had two chances already. There will not be a third. Other late night traders should also be under no illusions about the serious consequences that can result from license breaches."

Any resident who experiences problems from a late night business or believes a trader is breaching the terms of their licence can call 020 8871 6160/6151or email licensing@wandsworth.gov.uk

 

TODAY'S TOP WANDSWORTH STORIES