Greenwich restaurant owner fined after shisha bar operates in hotel

A fine and costs of of £6,035 was given to a Mr Aslam of Nine Lounge at the Radisson Red hotel on Tunnel Avenue who also failed to properly maintain CCTV and saw emergency exits blocked in the venue.

Greenwich Council state they had previously written to Mr Aslam at the start of the year advising him not to continue to sell shisha but were ignored.

Now if one was being cheeky, you could saw breathing in shisha smoke is barely more harmful than the A102 Blackwall Tunnel approach directly next to the hotel, but I digress.

Councillor Ann-Marie Cousins, Cabinet Member for Community Safety and Enforcement said: “We would always rather work with shisha bars to ensure they operate legally rather than prosecute them. But shisha smokers are at risk of the same kinds of diseases as cigarette smokers – such as heart disease, cancer, respiratory disease and problems during pregnancy. Second-hand smoke from shisha pipes is also dangerous because it contains harmful substances like carbon monoxide, toxic chemicals, and toxic particles.

“That’s why it’s incredibly important that shisha bars operate within the law and make sure if they do sell shisha, it is happening outside and not indoors.”