London,
02
April
2009
|
23:00
Europe/London

Hackney Council prosecutes unlicensed salon owner

The owner of a beauty salon offering potentially dangerous treatments without a licence has been prosecuted by Hackney Council.

Dora Ife, the proprietor of Hair Expressions at 8-20 Well Street, E9 pleaded guilty at Thames Magistrates Court on Wednesday 1 April to two offences. She admitted representing her premises as a special treatment establishment without the necessary licence, and of allowing special treatments to be carried out on her premises without a licence.

She was fined £1000 for each offence and ordered to pay costs of £1000. This is Ms Ife’s second offence. She was successfully prosecuted by Hackney Council in 2004 by for the same offence.

All premises offering special treatments require a licence under the London Local Authorities Act 1991.

A Council Licensing Officer had visited Hair Expressions, posing as a customer, and asked for a French manicure as a test purchase. The salon offered a range of treatments, some of which can spread illness or even cause injury if they are not managed properly. Recently, a young girl in Wales suffered first-degree burns all over her body after a 19-minute session on a tanning machine.

Cllr Alan Laing, the Council’s Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods, said: “Prosecutions like this show that the Council is absolutely committed to ensuring that ill-run, unlicensed premises are not allowed to operate in Hackney.”