The Southend Lane pub won a new licence with 39 conditions after counterfeit shirts and handbags were seized, but its director cannot be the supervisor.
The Railway Tavern on Southend Lane can sell alcohol again, after Lewisham councillors granted it a new premises licence with 39 conditions. The council’s licensing team had asked for the application to be refused.
The pub had been trading without a valid licence. Council officers found the old one had lapsed when the company that held it was dissolved.
Councillors did set one firm limit. The company’s sole director, who ran the pub under the old licence, cannot be its designated premises supervisor, the person responsible for alcohol sales day to day.
What officers found
The council’s Licensing Authority representation sets out what happened over the summer.
Trading Standards had an email from a member of the public. It said counterfeit cigarettes and football shirts were being sold at the pub. Licensing and Trading Standards officers made a joint visit on 31 July 2026.
According to the Trading Standards objection, officers recovered and seized:
- suspected counterfeit football shirts
- suspected counterfeit designer handbags
- illicit or counterfeit cigarettes
- disposable vapes, which are prohibited under the single-use vapes regulations
An employee confirmed the items were for sale, the objection says. The employee said a man came to the pub to sell the cigarettes.
The licence that had lapsed
The old licence was held by Ceyda Bay Ltd. Companies House records that company as dissolved on 17 April 2023. When a licence-holding company ceases to exist, the licence goes with it, so the pub had no lawful authority to sell alcohol “for several years”, the council said.
The council sent a warning letter on 4 August. On 8 August, officers obtained evidence that licensable activities had carried on after the warning. The licensing team called this “a particularly serious aggravating factor”.
A new company, Yenka Ltd, applied for a fresh licence on 13 August. Companies House shows it was incorporated in May 2025, registered at the pub, with the same sole director as Ceyda Bay. When the licensing team wrote its objection in September, the pub was closed.
The hearing and the decision
Licensing Sub Committee B heard the application on 6 October. The printed decision, dated 14 October, records that the director had attended an interview under caution. As it was the first time the premises had been reported to Trading Standards, he was offered a formal caution, and he accepted it.
The decision says the caution accepted guilt for offering counterfeit goods for sale at the premises, an offence under section 92 of the Trade Marks Act 1994.
Councillors granted the licence for the hours applied for:
| Activity | Monday to Thursday | Friday and Saturday | Sunday |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alcohol, on and off sales | 10am to midnight | 10am to 1am | 10am to 11pm |
| Recorded music | 11pm to midnight | 11pm to 1am | 11pm to midnight |
They found those hours “appropriate for the premises”. But they refused to name the director as designated premises supervisor. Because of the caution, they said, another qualified person had to take the role.
What the 39 conditions require
The conditions are based mainly on those the licensing team proposed, and they target what officers found. Among them:
- alcohol and other age-restricted goods only from legitimate, traceable suppliers, with each new supplier checked and recorded
- every delivery checked against its invoice, with suspect goods kept off sale
- invoices and delivery notes kept for 12 months
- a monthly audit of supplier records, training and logs by the supervisor
- CCTV covering every public area, recordings kept for 31 days
- Challenge 25 for alcohol, and no under-18s on age-restricted gaming machines
- a maximum of 120 people, staff included
- the beer garden open only from noon to 9.30pm
- no drinks taken outside by smokers after 10pm
The full list is in the annex to the decision notice.
What it means for you
- If you drink at the Railway Tavern: it can open with alcohol sales once a new supervisor is in place. The decision notice does not say who that will be or when the pub will reopen.
- If you live nearby: the pub must display a direct phone number for the manager, for noise or antisocial behaviour complaints. Licensing-related deliveries and waste collections are banned between 11pm and 7am.
- If problems return: anyone can ask the council to review the licence. The committee reminded both sides of that right in its decision.
- Appeals: the company can appeal to the magistrates’ court within 21 days of being notified.
For context, the pub was rated 5, the top food hygiene score, at an inspection on 10 July, three weeks before the licensing visit. Hygiene ratings cover food safety only, not licensing.
Licensing applications across the borough are listed on the council’s current applications page. For new building plans, see our Lewisham planning applications page.
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