Ayr restaurant in illegal workers raid

Jun 5 2009

A RESTAURANT owner is facing a fine of up to £60,000 after it was claimed he employed illegal workers.

Dian Cai has also lost his drinks licence after Ayr’s Shanghai Rendezvous was raided.

The popular Chinese buffet restaurant was targeted by the UK Border Agency who claim to have found six illegal members of staff.

And the restaurant has now had its licence to sell drinks suspended for a month following the scandal.

A special meeting of South Ayrshire Council’s Licensing Board exerted unique powers to remove the licence.

Mr Cai no longer holds the licence for the restaurant in the town’s Beresford Terrace.

And it is understood that he also resigned as a director of the company.

A spokesman for South Ayrshire Council said: “South Ayrshire Licensing Board, at a special meeting on May 7, which took the form of a hearing, considered a complaint on behalf of the chief constable in relation to the licensed premises known as Shanghai Rendezvous.

“Having heard submissions on behalf of the chief constable and the licence holder, the board suspended the licence for a period of one month on the grounds that the licence holder was no longer a fit and proper person to be the holder of a licence.

“As the premises are the subject of a further pending application to the board, it would not be appropriate to comment further at this stage.”

The licence is now held by Mr Cai’s wife.

However, it’s believed Mr Cai still works at the premises as an employee.

A spokesman for the UK Border Agency confirmed that they found six people they believe were illegal workers when the Ayr restaurant was raided in November.

They also found other alleged illegal workers when they targeted the Shanghai Rendezvous in Wishaw, which is also operated by the same company.

Phil Taylor from the agency told the Post: “We will not tolerate illegal working which threatens to damage our communities, and we will act on intelligence to target those businesses which ignore the rules and remove those with no right to be in the UK.

“The UK Border Agency works with employers so they understand the rules, but they have a responsibility to carry out the right checks before they employ migrant workers.

“If they don’t, they could end up potentially having to pay the kind of substantial fines this business is now facing.”

Mr Cai and his lawyer were unavailable for comment.