COUNTY councillors have granted a licence for a Hereford Indian restaurant which was serving alcohol without permission.

Police visited the Marygold on Union Street on February 14 and 18 and informed the staff that they did not have a licence to serve alcohol.

Applicant Mikayeel Deen explained that he did not realise his premises had no licence.

In July 2018, the company MaryGold Hfd Ltd was dissolved. And as a consequence the premises licence lapsed.

However, Mr Deen believed the premises licence still applied to the new company which was now trading at the site.

Sergeant Duncan Reynolds said: “After this date, no premises licence existed.

“It is unfortunate that the premises have had to apply for a new licence as it could have been resolved easily by applying for an interim authority.”

He said the the authority wrote to the main licence holder and the premises in January pointing out the situation and encouraging them to apply for a new licence.

“It is clear that he advice was ignored and the premises continued to operate outside of the law,” he said.

“As a consequence, the police visited the premises on two occasions.

“On both occasions the premises was open with customers with alcohol being sold or supplied.”

Mr Deen, who was the designated premises supervisor, said it was not his intention to sell alcohol without a licence.

“The first time I ever heard about this was when I spoke to a police officer over the phone,” he said.

He said he stopped serving as soon as he was informed by the police over the phone.

Herefordshire Council’s licensing sub-committee granted the licence for the sale and supply of alcohol for consumption at the premises seven days a week from 10am until 11.30pm.