AN ITALIAN restaurant has been fined £10,000 and had its licence revoked after an Albanian man was found working illegally at the businesses.

Immigration enforcement officers visited La Piazzetta restaurant in The Ridgeway, Chalkwell on March 22.

One Albanian national was arrested as they had no permission to work in the United Kingdom.

The employer was issued with a £10,000 penalty, however the Home Office said the employer failed to pay the penalty in full within 28 days.

Following the visit an application was made to Southend Council to have the premises licence reviewed.

The grounds for the application was that the premises “is undermining the licensing objective, the prevention of crime and disorder”.

Having considered the application on Monday, the Southend Council licensing sub-committee revoked the premises licence currently held by La Piazzetta Restaurant.

Speaking to the Echo, Samuel Furnica insisted he is the new owner of the Italian restaurant and claimed he has submitted an application for the business to continue.

A Home Office spokesperson said: “The Government is tackling illegal migration and the harm it causes by removing those with no right to be in the UK.

“We continue to work with law enforcement agencies to tackle illegal migration in all its forms.”

The restaurant says it is now under new management.

Mr Furnica said: “We have applied for a new licence. I know they used to have a problem with immigration.

“We took over on May 2.

“We intend to keep the name La Piazzatta because everyone knows it but our company is a different name.”

John Lamb, cabinet member for regulatory services, confirmed the licence has been revoked by Southend Council.

He said: “A licence review took place because of concerns raised by Home Office colleagues.

“A decision was made by the licencing committee, following the evidence presented, to revoke the licence for La Pizzetta Restaurant in The Ridgeway, Southend.”