News

Illegal Curry Mile shisha bar Dubai Cafe has £175k of cash confiscated

And it faces a hefty fine.

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson - 9th May 2023

An illegal shisha cafe on the Curry Mile in Manchester has had a huge sum of cash confiscated and been slapped with a hefty fine.

Dubai Cafe on Wilmslow Road has had £174,074 of income confiscated for breaching a planning enforcement notice and operating as an illegal shisha cafe.

T&M Property Investment Ltd – the owner of the lease for the property – has also been ordered to pay an £18,750 fine and court costs of £5,700.

It was back in September 2018 that enforcement officers from Manchester City Council noticed that Dubai Cafe in Rusholme was being operated as a shisha bar.

The Curry Mile premises had also been altered without appropriate planning permission.

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The landlord was ordered to cease operating as a shisha cafe and put right all the works made without planning permission through an enforcement notice – which was ignored.

The Council entered the property on two occasions to seize shisha pipes and tobacco, but more than four years later found that Dubai Cafe was still being used as a shisha bar.

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Shisha pipes inside Dubai Cafe which had been operating illegally
Inside Dubai Cafe. Credit: Manchester City Council

T&M Property Investment Ltd was sentenced following a guilty plea at a Manchester Crown Court hearing on Friday 5 May to offences committed under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990.

Councillor Gavin White, executive member for Housing and Development, said: “These premises had been operating illegally as a shisha café for a number of years and despite receiving enforcement notices from the Council to stop, they continued and have now been held to account through the courts.

“Local residents have had to put up with this criminal activity for too long and this judgement – along with the confiscation of their illegally obtained profit – sends a clear message to other businesses flagrantly breaking the law that we are looking for you and we will prosecute.

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“This case also shows that landlords can’t hide behind their tenants – they will be held responsible for criminality in their property.

“Operating a premises without the correct permissions is not only illegal but can also be dangerous. It’s a welcome result following months of hard work to bring a prosecution and ensure this property is safe.”

Featured image: Manchester City Council

News

New ‘B Plates’ introduced so drivers can identify themselves as being bad at parking

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant

New ‘B Plates’ have been introduced so drivers who are bad at parking can identify themselves for all to see.

Consider yourself good at parking? Well, that’s bold of you to claim… because for a lot of us, we wouldn’t be so confident to say that, and it turns out we’re not alone either, as some new research has revealed that 48% of drivers think they could benefit from more training or assistance with their parking manoeuvres.

The new B plates – with the ‘B’ standing for ‘bad parking’ – are designed to be attached to a vehicle so you can apologise to other motorists for your lack of parking prowess.

On top of the 48% of bad parkers, the research by Scrap Car Comparison found that a further one in six (17%) say they have experienced stress or worry about having to park their car, while a third of drivers (30%) say they spend extra time searching for a parking bay with free spaces either side.

New ‘B Plates’ have been introduced so drivers can identify themselves as being bad at parking / Credit: Supplied

74% of new drivers aged between 17 and 24 say they could benefit from more guidance in lessons.

Overall, one in four motorists (23%) claim that they weren’t taught well enough when it came to parking maneuverers, according to the research.

It’s hoped that the new B Plate stickers will encourage drivers to ‘own’ their parking pitfalls, the company says, as well as seek the additional guidance required to gain more confidence behind the wheel. 

48% of drivers think they could benefit from more training with their parking manoeuvres / Credit: Supplied

“Just like a P plate enables new drivers to ask for patience from other road users, our B plates will give people the chance to hold their hands up, say sorry and ask for forgiveness, if they know their parking leaves a lot to be desired,” explained David Kottaun, who is the Operations Manager at Scrap Car Comparison.

“We hope the plates also serve as encouragement for drivers to seek additional parking guidance to build up their confidence.”

Want to get your hands on one then?

Read more:

Scrap Car Comparison are offering a limited number of B plate stickers to interested drivers for free if you fill out the ‘register interest’ on its website here, and then based on interest levels, they will be made more widely available in 2025.

Featured Image – Supplied

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More than 1,000 miles of UK roadworks will be removed to avoid Christmas travel chaos

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant

More than 1,000 miles of roadworks are to be removed across the UK in a bid to avoid travel chaos this Christmas.

With the festive season practically here, and nearly 40% of drivers said to be planning long journeys across the country to spend time with their loved ones this Christmas, National Highways has announced that it’ll be removing more than 1,100 miles of roadworks.

The roadworks are being removed from motorways and major A-roads nationwide in a bid to help minimise disruption during peak travel times.

This means that, from 6am on Friday 20 December up until 12.01am on Thursday 2 January, more than 95% of roadworks will be lifted to help make sure major routes across the UK are clear for motorists during the busy festive period.

More than 1,000 miles of UK roadworks are being removed to avoid Christmas travel chaos / Credit – Vladimir Proskurovskiy (via Unsplash)

Some of the significant routes set to benefit from roadworks being lifted or completed for the festive period include more than 100 miles of roadworks on the M25 London orbital, 59 miles of roadworks on the A14 between Thrapston in Northamptonshire to Felixstowe in Suffolk, and more than 33 miles of roadworks across the A47 from Peterborough to Lowestoft.

A grand total of 11 miles of roadworks are to be removed in the North West, which is… useful.

Friday 20 December is expected to be the busiest day on the roads over the festive period, according to National Highways.

It’s estimated that 7.2 million people are planning journeys of more than two hours on this day.

7.2 million people are expected to make journeys during the festive period / Credit: RAC

Because of this, drivers are being encouraged to plan ahead for their journeys and prepare for all weather eventualities too by packing a winter travel kit that includes de-icer, an ice scraper, warm clothing, boots, food, water, a torch, and a snow shovel.

“With more people expected to travel during the festive period and recent storms causing widespread disruption, it’s crucial for drivers to plan ahead and exercise extra caution on the roads,” commented Andrew Butterfield, who is the Customer Service Director of National Highways.

Read more:

To help make journeys smoother, we’re removing roadworks on 95% of the roads we manage.”

Featured Image – National Highways (via Facebook)

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