Yahoo News Trendy Notting Hill bar Casa Cruz ‘offered £5,000’ to hold Rita Ora’s lockdown birthday avoids losing licence
Rita Ora presenting the Best Electronic award at the MTV EMA's 2020
(Getty for MTV)Trendy Notting Hill bar Casa Cruz which "accepted £5,000" to host Rita Ora’s lockdown 30th birthday party has avoided having its licence revoked despite police protestations.
Charles Holland, a lawyer representing the police, had told the licensing sub-committee: “The incident on the night was one of the most egregious, and certainly the most notorious, breaches of the regulations committed on licensed premises.”
Kensington and Chelsea Council has said Casa Cruz in Notting Hill, west London, will instead have its licence suspended for six weeks following a review.
The Metropolitan Police had urged the local authority to take away the restaurant’s licence following the incident in November last year.
Pop star Ora apologised for the “spur of the moment” decision to throw a celebration, which took place in breach of Covid rules during England’s second national lockdown.The licensing decision comes as the Australian Government has been criticised for allowing Rita Ora to enter the country while nearly 40,000 Australians remain stranded overseas.
After landing in Australia on Monday, Ora was taken to a Sydney hotel for two weeks of quarantine.
The pop star will join Keith Urban, Jessica Mauboy and Guy Sebastian on the celebrity panel of judges for The Voice Australia.
But Ora’s arrival in Australia drew criticism as some questioned why the 30-year-old star was allowed to join the show as a musical coach after breaking coronavirus restrictions in the UK with a birthday party in west London.
