Wolverhampton wine bar owned by ex-Wolves defender Mo Camara could lose licence over late-night lock-ins

Chill Wine Bar in High Street, Tettenhall, will have its licence reviewed by City of Wolverhampton Council following further complaints over late noise and disturbance.

The wine bar had its licence suspended in 2024 after it was caught serving drinks after hours on a number of occasions despite previous warnings from the council.

Earlier this month, the council rejected a plea by wine bar owner and former Wolverhampton Wanderers defender Mo Camara to open later.

The council’s licensing and environmental health departments and West Midlands Police had objected to the application over concerns it would add to ongoing problems with late-night noise.

A review of CCTV footage during the council’s earlier investigation into the complaints from neighbours found the wine bar open and serving as well as free-pouring drinks after its licensed hours on two nights in September.

Door staff were also seen serving drinks and loud music remained on past the designated midnight cut-off according to the council’s report.

The council’s licensing officer called for the committee to revoke the licence for the “blatant disregard” of the licence ahead of January’s hearing.

West Midlands Police said it also supported the full review.

The council also complained it failed to receive the correct CCTV footage it had requested from Mr Camara with some of the video not at first provided and others containing breaks in filming.

Council staff said they had heard the loud music for themselves when investigating a complaint in September and witnessed the club open later than permitted.

CCTV footage later requested from the evening revealed the bar open until nearly 1.20am.

Another complaint was made last weekend (December 12 and 13) after a large crowd gathered outside the venue eventually had to be dispersed by police.

The latest council report said Mr Camara told environmental health officers that a ‘large crowd of people from out of the area’ had become “uncontrollable” after they were asked to leave.

Mr Camara said he was later “subjected to violence and aggression outside the premises” which resulted in police attending.

Mr Camara had locked the entrance doors to his wine bar only for the windows to be smashed.

A move to extend the opening hours of the wine bar owned by the former Wolves player was rejected by City of Wolverhampton Council’s licensing committee earlier this month.

Mr Camara had asked for permission to open his Chill Wine Bar half an hour later but the plea was turned down over fears it would add to late-night noise issues.

The former Wolverhampton Wanderers defender had asked for permission to open until 1am and play live and recorded music until 12.30am.

The bar’s licence was suspended in 2024 after hosting a number of late-night lock-ins.

At the hearing on December 9, it was revealed CCTV footage from September showed the wine bar still open at 1.20am despite an agreed 12.30am closing time.

Mr Camara told councillors he had experienced a “tough time” after the Covid-19 pandemic and pleaded to extend the opening hours to “keep a hold of his business.”

“I’m struggling to pay my bills,” he told the hearing. “People think that because I’m an ex-footballer [I’ve got lots of money]. I have to pay my staff, council tax is going up, business rates are going up and I’m struggling to keep a hold of my business.”

“I’m just asking for an extra half an hour. Everywhere else shuts at 12am and we’ll just get an extra 30 minutes to just help my business grow a bit.

“I make some mistakes sometimes but that’s life… I’m trying to make people happy.

“I’m not a bad person,” he later said. “I’m no gangster.”

City of Wolverhampton Council said the issues which led to the licence being suspended 18 months ago had already been repeated and extending the hours would “only exacerbate them further.”

Ahead of the hearing, a Tettenhall neighbour said in an objection that there had been a “history of disregard for local residents from people visiting the bar.”

The bar, which opened in the village’s High Street in 2017, had its licence suspended for a month following a hearing in July last year for allowing three late-night lock-ins.

Mr Camara was also removed as the bar’s supervisor after allowing drinks to be served to a packed bar on consecutive weekends in February and again in March – despite a warning from the council – but he was allowed to remain as the venue’s licence holder.

The licensing hearing in 2024 heard how many revellers in Tettenhall would finish their nights at Mr Camara’s bar after leaving nearby pubs at midnight.

The wine bar then agreed to cut its closing time by half an hour to match nearby pubs to prevent it from drawing crowds looking to grab a ‘quick’ drink.

The council’s licensing manager Greg Bickerdike dismissed claims that only ‘soft’ drinks had been served after hours as “fanciful at best” and criticised Mr Camara for staying open when he should not have – and again after a warning.

“If he is not capable of understanding ‘don’t open past these hours’ then I don’t know what hope we have for the rest of the conditions being implemented correctly,” he told the hearing.

Mr Camara had earlier been warned by the council and given 14 days to provide the CCTV footage of the alleged lock-ins – recordings the council said were “incomplete” when handed over.

Another complaint that the venue was open after hours again on March 18, despite the warning, was later confirmed by CCTV.