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From the
https://www.kentonline.co.uk By Alex Langridge, 6 October 2026.
New licence application submitted for The Prince Albert pub in
Wrotham Road, Gravesend.
A family-friendly tapas restaurant could be opened at a pub which
previously had its licence suspended after “serious allegations”.
Piratas Limited has applied for a new premises licence for The
Prince Albert in Gravesend for live music, recorded music,
late-night refreshment and alcohol.
The Bromley-based firm said it was looking to run a
“family-friendly” Spanish restaurant at the public house in Wrotham
Road.
It added: “The premises will operate as a food-led hospitality venue
providing a safe and welcoming environment.”
If approved, it will be open seven days a week from midday until
midnight, except on Sunday when it would close at 9pm.
The company has also sought permission to extend those hours until
2am on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve.
The application is looking for the same hours to apply for the
licensable activities.
However, it said live music would be played only until 8pm Monday to
Thursday and Sunday, until midnight on Friday and Saturday and until
1am on New Year’s Eve.
According to the application, customers would be encouraged to leave
the area quietly, and queues and noise levels would be monitored.
It added: “The licence holder is committed to ensuring that the
operation of the premises does not adversely affect residents or the
wider community.
“The premises will be operated with consideration for neighbouring
residents and businesses.”
It could become a Spanish tapas restaurant.
The firm has said all staff would receive induction and ongoing
training in licensing law, responsible alcohol retailing, age
verification, conflict management, safeguarding and customer
welfare.
It also intends to complete risk assessments, have a refusals
register and incident log, CCTV in key areas retained for at least
31 days, and not knowingly allow illegal drug use, violence or
anti-social behaviour.
The Prince Albert has a chequered past which saw its licence
suspended in April after an expedited hearing heard details of
“serious allegations” and breaches of conditions.
There were concerns the public house, being run by previous
leaseholder, Marius Rexha, was not meeting the objectives to prevent
crime and disorder and prevent children from harm.
A private hearing was held by the council’s licensing panel, with
Kent Police and Mr Rexha in attendance, after the force had called
for a review of its licence following “serious allegations related
to an incident”.
Previous licence holder Marius Rexha. Picture: Gravesham council.
Members were told there had been breaches of the licence’s
conditions, including no hard drive recording of CCTV, no entries in
the incident book for a significant period of time and missing pages
from the staff training book.
The nature of the “serious allegations” was never made public.
It came more than a year after the pub’s bid for a temporary alcohol
licence was rejected amid fears Mr Rexha was not “competent enough”
to run the business safely.
Police had “serious concerns” about his ability to prevent crime and
ensure public safety and suspected underage sales had been made. |
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