THE boss of an Indian restaurant in Irvine has had his personal licence revoked by North Ayrshire Council's Licensing Board over 'fake vodka' sales.
Davinder Summel, of the Gulab Tandoori Brasserie on Stanecastle Road, appeared before the board earlier this month.
His appearance came almost four weeks after a warning letter was placed on the premises for serving non-genuine Smirnoff Vodka following a visit by the North Ayrshire Trading Standards department.
On August 12, the board found Mr Summel had acted while working at the premises in a manner inconsistent with securing public safety and protecting and improving public health.
During a joint inspection by the Home Office and Trading Standards, two open bottles displayed as Smirnoff No.21 Red Label Vodka 37.5 per cent were found to contain a different brand of alcohol.
Makers Diageo concluded that their contents were “not consistent with the genuine product”.
The board called for a second hearing to decided whether to revoke Mr Summel's licence, suspend it for up to six months or endorse it.
Mr Summel said they had a no refill policy so it would not happen again and revealed that four staff members had passed their personal licences. When he was off duty, his brother would be stepping in.
He told the board he had no criminal record and was a responsible person who supported squash, darts and pool teams in the community.
However, councillor Ronnie Stalker said that as the vodka being sold was not Smirnoff, he had not been properly carrying out his main job of running the bar.
Cllr Christina Larsen proposed revoking the licence and this was seconded by Cllr Stalker and approved by the board.
A motion from Cllr Matthew McLean to endorse the licence could not find a backer.
Acting chair Cllr Nairn Angus-McDonald said: “We have moved to revoke your licence as having determined you are not a fit and proper person to hold a licence.
"This takes effect immediately and you have seven days to notify the licensing team that your licence has been revoked.
“You have six weeks to designate a new premises manager.”
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