Bell and Bottle escapes losing licence for employing illegal workers

The Bell and Bottle near Knowl Hill has escaped losing its licence for employing illegal workers.

Immigration officers visited the Bath Road venue on June 15 and discovered two members of staff working illegally.

One worker was employed at the venue despite his Right to Work in the UK expiring in 2014.

A second member of staff told immigration officials they had been working 35 hours per week at the venue despite only holding a student visa which entitled them to 20 hours of weekly work.

Representatives of the Bell and Bottle, which is home to a bar, bed and breakfast, and the Javatri Indian restaurant, appeared before a meeting of the council’s licensing sub-committee on Wednesday, December 6.

Surendra Panchal, representing the Bell and Bottle’s licence holder Surinder Kumar Rajput, told the meeting that the company’s employment ‘blunders’ were due to the previous designated premises supervisor (DPS), who was removed in January this year.

He told the meeting that the previous DPS had been told by the worker without a Right to Work in the UK that his passport was currently being renewed.

But councillors questioned why the venue’s new DPS, Sachin Rajput, had not resolved the issue before immigration officers visited in June this year – six months after his appointment.

Windsor and Maidenhead council has now confirmed the venue will not have its licence suspended or revoked.

The local authority has imposed extra conditions on the Bell and Bottle which requires the premises licence holder to retain a hard copy on site of HR documents including copies of passports and workers’ Right to Work.

These documents must be available at all times for immigration enforcement or the council to inspect.