- Two people found to be working illegally at premises
- Home Office issues £80k penalty to T & J Burgers
- Premises licence suspended to trade after 11pm for three months
Following Home Office action against T & J Burgers, 86 Bolebridge Street, Tamworth Borough Council has also suspended the premises licence for the business for a period of three months from 13 February.
During a Home Office intelligence led compliance visit to the premises, T & J Burgers, two people were found to be illegally working in the shop. The Home Office issued a £80,000 fine for employing two people working in breach of their visa conditions. An application to Tamworth Borough Council was also made for a review of the licence.
The council’s licensing sub-committee decided on 22 January 2025, it was proportionate to suspend the licence to serve hot food and drink after 11pm, held by Mr Junaid Jalil, for a period of three months. The committee found there were numerous inconsistencies between the evidence presented by the Home Office Enforcement Officer and that given on behalf of the premises licence holder. In addition to the three-month suspension, conditions added to the licence including:
- The licence holder (Mr Jalil) must carry out the relevant right to work checks for any prospective employees before commencing employment.
- The licence holder must retain copies of documents following checks relating to the right to work. These must be immediately accessible at the premises for inspection by immigration officials.
- The licence holder or any person who appears to be responsible for hiring staff, must be able to produce when requested by officials a written procedure which sets out the process and procedure that must be followed when hiring staff and in particular the immigration checks to be undertaken.
Work by the Home Office Immigration Enforcement Team aims to protect both the rights of legitimate businesses and their employees, as well as the risks posed to illegal workers.
A licence is required for premises that serve hot food and drink after 11pm, therefore Mr Jalil’s suspension applies to opening hours after 11pm only.
Councillor David Foster, portfolio environmental, sustainability, recycling and waste
for Tamworth Borough Council, said: “As soon as we were aware of licence breaches from the evidence provided by the Home Office, we worked with their enforcement officer to support their case in court and to take action ourselves to restrict the operation of this business.
“In this case, the combined action of Tamworth Borough Council and the Home Office are essential to help protect legitimate businesses and protect workers from becoming vulnerable and exploited.
“We’d encourage all businesses to make sure they are aware the Home Office and ACAS legislation to avoid any risk of breaching licensing conditions.”