Hereford Chinese Restaurant Loses Licence Following Immigration Offences

[Hereford Voice]

A Chinese restaurant in Hereford has had its licence to serve alcohol and late-night food revoked after immigration-related arrests earlier this year.

Herefordshire Council moved to withdraw the licence following a police-led operation at Planet Buffet on Commercial Road in February, during which two Chinese nationals were detained.

Planet Buffet, which offered both dine-in and takeaway options, had been licensed to sell alcohol until 11pm and serve hot food until midnight on Fridays and Saturdays. The council's only available penalty in this case was to revoke the premises licence.

The council’s licensing subcommittee initially postponed its decision to allow time for the business owner, Yu Fei Huang, to attend the hearing and for documents to be translated. The meeting eventually took place in private on May 30.

At the hearing, licensing officer Harry Spriggs reported that during the February inspection, officers discovered there was no designated premises supervisor — a legal requirement for selling alcohol.

Mr Huang appealed to keep the licence, stating that one of the individuals arrested had since returned to Malaysia, and that going forward, he would ensure no illegal workers were employed. He also pledged to review and comply with the licence conditions.

It was also revealed that the restaurant had a history of unpaid licensing fees dating back to 2016. Mr Huang claimed correspondence regarding the payments had either gone missing or never been received, and said the non-payment had not been intentional.

Despite these assurances, the committee opted to revoke the licence. It cited the seriousness of the immigration offences, previous breaches of licensing regulations, and past suspensions as reasons for their decision. The panel also expressed concern over whether the owner would comply with licence conditions in future.

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