The Licensing Sub-Committee of The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea met on Thursday, 23 April 2026, to consider a review of the premises licence for Baba Restaurant. The committee decided to suspend the licence for a period of three months, with the suspension to be lifted if specific conditions are met regarding the abatement of noise and vibration nuisances.

Review of Baba Restaurant Premises Licence

The primary focus of the meeting was a review of the premises licence for Baba Restaurant, located at 212 Fulham Road, London, SW10 9PJ. The review was initiated by Mr. Paul Tancre, a resident of Fulham Road, on the grounds of preventing public nuisance. Mr. Tancre cited numerous incidents of nuisance stemming from the restaurant's kitchen extract system and fridge compressor.

The committee heard evidence detailing a history of noise and nuisance complaints, primarily from Mr. Tancre, dating back to November 2024. These complaints related to plant noise, specifically from the kitchen extraction system, air conditioning units, and refrigeration plant. Environmental health officers had previously determined that the plant noise constituted a statutory nuisance, leading to the service of a noise abatement notice on 5 March 2025. Despite this, several breaches of the notice were witnessed. Consequently, the licensee's company, LALA Limited, was prosecuted and fined £3,000 on 18 February 2026. A further breach was observed on 23 February 2026.

Mr. Matt McElroy, from the council's noise and nuisance team, detailed the enforcement actions taken, including the issuance of fixed penalty notices which were not paid, leading to the prosecution. He explained that the previous operator of the premises, Seasons, had successfully abated similar plant noise issues by undertaking works. Mr. McElroy noted a lack of willingness from the current operators to address the issues, despite an acoustic report commissioned by the premises owner detailing mitigation measures.

Mrs. Ege Cevik-Sevek, the premises licence holder, presented her case, stating that she had taken over the premises on 24 June 2024 and initially focused on trading. She claimed that the air conditioning units were not in use and that she had undertaken cleaning of the kitchen extract system as recommended by an acoustic report. She also stated that she had ordered anti-vibration mounts and mats, with delivery expected imminently. Mrs. Cevik-Sevek also explained that she had not received the summons for the court hearing due to a change in her accountant.

The committee also heard from Mr. Colin Harry from the licensing team, who had conducted a risk assessment and identified eight breaches of the premises licence conditions, unrelated to the noise nuisance but including issues with CCTV, staff training, and a lack of resident meetings. However, the committee focused on the grounds for the review, which were primarily the noise and nuisance issues.

After considering all the evidence, the committee decided to suspend the premises licence for Baba Restaurant for a period of three months. This suspension would be lifted if, by the end of the following week (Friday, 1 May 2026), the necessary works, including the installation of anti-vibration mounts and mats, and addressing the kitchen extract system, were completed and verified by council officers. The committee stressed the seriousness of the situation and the need for the operator to find the necessary funds to comply with the requirements. The committee also noted that the registered company address for LALA Limited was still listed on Companies House, despite the licensee stating it was no longer in use, and that the company was subject to a compulsory strike-off action.

The committee concluded that the licence holder had not demonstrated sufficient willingness to address the persistent noise and vibration issues, which had been ongoing for a significant period. The decision to suspend the licence was made to promote the licensing objective of preventing public nuisance. The full decision and reasons will be circulated to the parties within five working days.