A judge has ordered a Barking shisha bar owner to pay a fine of nearly £1,000 for trading illegally on the public highway.

On 6 July 2022, a Barking and Dagenham Council enforcement officer witnessed My Place Shisha Bar and Dining of Longbridge Road, Barking operating with tables and chairs on the pavement despite them not having a street trading licence. The officer requested to see a valid licence, however the owner Mr Edmond Rizaj failed to provide one.

The next day, 8 July 2022, Mrs Rizaj was issued with a £150 Fixed Penalty Notice as a discharge of liability for the offence with the option to reduce the fine to £90 if paid within 14 days.

However, the notice was ignored and Mr Rizaj sent an appeal on 25 July 2022 via West Ham Solicitors claiming that the highway outside of the business is part of the business premise. On 27 July, the appeal was rejected as the land is an adopted public highway.

As the fine remained unpaid, the case went to Barkingside Magistrates Court last month, on Tuesday 21 March, where Mr Rizaj pleaded guilty.

The judge ordered Rizaj to pay a fine of £300, costs to Barking and Dagenham Council of £571 and a Victim Surcharge of £120, totalling £991 to be paid within 28 days.

Councillor Syed Ghani, Cabinet Member for Enforcement and Community Safety said: “We put rules in place for a reason and we expect businesses to follow them.

“We’re happy for businesses to operate on the public highway, but they must have the correct licence to do so. This business owner must now pay a huge fine for not following the rules and ignoring previous requests from council enforcement officers.”