Upmarket Indian restaurant wins extended hours after promise of ‘extremely robust’ noise prevention

An upmarket restaurant offering pan-Indian cuisine won an extension to its hours after councillors were told “robust” policies would be put in place to prevent noise disturbance.

Camden’s licensing committee heard complaints from residents and a nearby hotel about two incidents in which people’s sleep was interrupted.

Daniel Harris from the four-star Rathbone Hotel said guests were woken up in the early hours during two temporary events at 1947 London restaurant on Charlotte Street.

He described “fights going on in the street outside” and a large number of people leaving “at the same time”.

The hotel complained to the police and Camden Council about the disturbances.

Harris said there was vomit outside and staff had to replace plants after people sat on them.

“It really was not a great impression for our guests, most guests at the front of the hotel had difficulty sleeping.”

He said the hotel is concerned about the impact of later hours six nights a week.

“It is a residential area and the noise is extremely disturbing.”

Residents on Lancaster Court in Fitzrovia were also affected by late night noise, with “people talking loudly” as they tried to sleep.

Clive Henderson of the Charlotte Street Association said the requested late hours were “unacceptable”, no matter what conditions were attached to them.

“Just the numbers coming out of these large premises in the early hours of the morning, however well behaved, they will be noisy,” he warned.

Lawyer Chris Rees-Gay said the high-end restaurant will have an “extremely robust operating schedule” for the later hours and its request is backed with a petition signed by 285 residents.

He said the owners have 20 years’ experience of running resturants and a chef who has worked at Michelin-rated eateries.

He said the two highlighted incidents happened when the venue was let out for a private party in the aftermath of Covid shutdowns to generate income.

The award-winning Indian restaurant asked to extend the current sales of alcohol from 10am to midnight on Mondays to Saturdays until 1.15am, with the restaurant to shut by 2am.

Rees-Gay said strict rules will include only serving alcohol with meals, extensive CCTV, staff training, risk assessments, an incident log, and staff actively dispersing customers at the end of the night.

Neil Saggar from 1947 London told Camden’s licensing committee: “Our customers are not the type of people that are going to go out and cause disruption.”

He said the venue has held 27 temporary events and “our history is pretty good.”

Saggar added that they would not be renting out the venue.

He said the extra hours would mean the restaurant could run a third sitting as “there is a big call for it”.

Resident Savvas Photiou said: “It’s a nice family-run restaurant and I think it’s an asset to the local community, they produce lovely food.”

Saggar said he did not think a request for Security Industry Authority-accredited staff from 11pm on Mondays to Wednesdays was practical.

Councillors were satisified with the arrangements to supervise people smoking outside and to ask diners to leave quietly and approved the extra hours.