Redbridge's licensing team wants the Goodmayes Snooker Club licence revoked over alleged unlawful gaming machines. Police agree. Hearing 7 September.

Redbridge Council’s own licensing enforcement team has asked for the premises licence of a Goodmayes snooker club to be revoked, and the Metropolitan Police have written in to support it. The case is listed for a public hearing at Ilford Town Hall on Monday 7 September.

The premises is Goodmayes Snooker and Pool Club, Unit 3, 9-13 Goodmayes Road, IG3 9UH. It holds premises licence 077208, issued on 17 December 2021, and the current holder was added to it after a transfer on 31 December 2024.

The council received the review application on 13 July 2026, under section 51 of the Licensing Act 2003. It came from the council’s own Licensing Enforcement Team, which is one of the responsible authorities the Act allows to trigger a review. The application asks the sub-committee to revoke the licence outright.

What the council says it found

The officer report to the sub-committee says the review follows investigations at the premises. It says the licensing authority “has identified evidence of alleged unlawful gambling activity, involving gaming machines, together with repeated regulatory and compliance failures”.

The report lists the evidence gathered as:

  • inspection findings
  • photographic records
  • machine inventories
  • supplier information
  • correspondence with HMRC
  • witness evidence
  • enforcement records

Alongside the gambling allegation, the report sets out a second group of concerns: management oversight, CCTV compliance, record keeping, admissions controls, unlawful late-night activity and wider operational management. It says these “are not isolated incidents but form part of a pattern of non-compliance”.

The review is brought against all four of the licensing objectives in the Act: the prevention of crime and disorder, public safety, the prevention of public nuisance, and the protection of children from harm. A review can only be made on those grounds.

The council’s stated position is blunt. Having weighed what it calls the cumulative evidence, it says it has reached “a fundamental loss of confidence in the management and operation of the premises”, and that revocation is the appropriate and proportionate step.

The Metropolitan Police made one representation in support. The force is also asking for the licence to be revoked. Home Office statutory guidance tells licensing authorities to treat the police as the main source of advice on crime and disorder.

None of this has been tested yet. The allegations are unproven, the licence holder can appear at the hearing and make representations, and it is for the sub-committee to decide.

A second application on the same morning

The same sub-committee meeting carries a second Goodmayes Snooker item, and the two are linked.

A solicitor acting for a different individual has applied to transfer licence 077208 to that person under section 42 of the Act, and to name them as the new designated premises supervisor under section 37. The council notified the Metropolitan Police and the Home Office Immigration Enforcement team of both applications on 2 July 2026.

On 15 July 2026 the Met told the council that granting either application could undermine the crime prevention objective. That objection is why both were referred to the sub-committee instead of being processed as routine paperwork.

The review report addresses the proposed transfer directly. It says the authority is concerned by the history of premises licence transfers, changes of designated premises supervisor and “the ongoing involvement of associated individuals”. Its evidence, it says, “suggests continuity of control despite formal changes in licensing arrangements”.

What the licence currently allows

Timeline of the Goodmayes Snooker and Pool Club premises licence, from its issue in December 2021 to the hearing on 7 September 2026
How the case reached the sub-committee. Graphic by Ilford Today.
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Under premises licence 077208 the club is authorised to:

  • sell alcohol for consumption on the premises, Monday to Sunday, 12:00 to 00:00
  • provide late night refreshment, Monday to Sunday, 23:00 to 00:00
  • open to the public, Monday to Sunday, 10:00 to 00:45

If the licence is revoked, those permissions end. A revocation does not by itself close a business that can trade without them, but it removes the authority to sell alcohol and to serve hot food after 23:00.

What the sub-committee can decide

Section 52 of the Licensing Act 2003 gives the sub-committee six options. It can:

  • modify the conditions on the licence, including adding new ones
  • exclude a licensable activity from the licence
  • remove the designated premises supervisor
  • suspend the licence for up to three months
  • revoke the licence
  • take no action

The first two can be imposed for a fixed period of up to three months rather than permanently. Whatever it chooses has to be appropriate for promoting the licensing objectives, and proportionate.

The Home Office guidance the report quotes is pointed about repeat cases. Where responsible authorities have already issued warnings that failed, it says the committee “should not merely repeat that approach”. Where premises are found to be trading irresponsibly, it says the authority should not hesitate to take tough action, and to revoke where other measures are insufficient.

What it means for you

The hearing is at 10.30am on Monday 7 September in the Council Chamber at Ilford Town Hall, and the public part of it is open to anyone. If you plan to go, our guide to parking in Ilford covers the nearest car parks and their charges.

Two items on the agenda are marked for the public to be excluded. Those are the sub-committee’s deliberations on each decision, taken in private under section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972. The decisions themselves are published afterwards.

The papers are on the council’s committee site, including the officer reports for both the review and the transfer. Several appendices, including the police representation and the enforcement team’s evidence, are published in redacted form.

Whatever the sub-committee decides, it is not necessarily the end of it. Under Schedule 5 of the Licensing Act 2003, the person who applied for the review, the licence holder, and anyone who made relevant representations can appeal to a magistrates’ court. The appeal has to be lodged within 21 days of being notified of the decision.

This is the same sub-committee that in August considered four late-night applications from food businesses in the borough, three of which the police objected to.

Sources