Illegal workers discovered at karaoke bar

A karaoke bar could lose its licence after illegal workers and "suspicious" massage rooms were found during police searches.

West Yorkshire Police officers, licencing officers from Kirklees Council and immigration officers from the Home Office carried out a joint operation in Huddersfield on 25 April.

The discovery of the illegal workers at Hao Lai Karaoke Bar, on Kirkgate, as well as three massage rooms in the basement, resulted in two women being detained and one man arrested.

The police have asked the council to review the bar's licence, despite its holder saying any illegal activity had been "quickly stopped".

The review hearing will take place on 7 July.

The Home Office and police have also asked the local authority to "seriously consider" revoking the bar's licence altogether.

A spokesperson for West Yorkshire Police said: "The operators have no regard for UK laws, and revocation of this licence will send a strong message to other business operators within Kirklees considering employing illegal workers.

"The current fine for employing illegal workers can be up to £60,000.

"The use of illegal workers may also indicate that the workers could be victims of people smuggling or modern-day slavery."

In the summer of 2024, the force also received intelligence about illicit sexual activities taking place in the rooms below the bar, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Documents said that when visiting the premises, officers found a bed in one room, along with empty condom wrappers and baby wipes.

At the time, officers informed the premises licence holder, who was working behind the bar, that such activities must cease immediately.

Officers returned to the premises in September 2024, where they found the bed had been replaced with a massage table and "no evidence" of sexual activity was present.

Several other breaches of the licensing objectives were noted by Kirklees Council licensing officers in the latest investigation, including a lack of CCTV recordings, failure to maintain refusal logs, no incident log being available for inspection, and no evidence of training logs.

In submissions ahead of the hearing, the bar's licence holder denied employing any staff who did not have the right to work in the UK.

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