By Hannah Brown

Copyright cambridge-news

A cocktail and tapas bar is facing a possible review of its licence after a “high volume” of complaints were made about the venue. The Lancaster Lounge, in Main Street, Yaxley, was also found to have breached some of its licence conditions, including serving customers pints after the cut off time imposed by the alcohol licence.

Domenico Ricciardi, owner of the bar, said he recognised that a mistake had been made and said he took the situation seriously and would be spending his time making sure the business fully complies with alcohol sales regulation.

The Lancaster Lounge opened last year after being granted a premises licence by Huntingdonshire District Council that allowed the bar to sell alcohol and play live and recorded music. A licensing officer at the district council has now applied for this licence to be reviewed by the authority following public complaints, and breaches of licensing conditions being found.

The officer’s report published by the district council said the licensing team at the district council had been made aware of 25 complaints. While it said most of the complaints had not been substantiated due to a lack of supporting evidence, it said it was still a concern that a single premises had “attracted such a high volume of complaints in 18 months of operations”.

The most recent four complaints followed an ‘Ibiza Sessions’ event held by the bar over August bank holiday weekend. The report explained that following these complaints a licensing inspection was conducted, where multiple breaches of the bar’s licensing conditions were found.

CCTV footage showed alcohol being served by staff after 11pm, the cut off time allowed on the licence. The report said staff could be seen pouring and serving pints at 11.07pm with Mr Ricciardi, who is also the designated premises supervisor (DPS), nearby.

The report said there was also CCTV footage showing that a “large number” of customers were still using the outside area at 11.45pm, when the bar’s licence states that the external area should not be used by customers after 11pm. Further breaches relating to staff training were also found, including that staff training records were “incomplete”.

The report also said no written risk assessment was conducted for the ‘Ibiza Sessions’ event to see whether SIA door staff would be needed. The report said this event attracted between 150 to 200 people and the bar’s licence required a risk assessment to be carried out to consider whether door staff should be employed.

The licensing officer said: “It is apparent through the sheer volume of complaints, the ongoing lack of compliance with the conditions, and the two incidents of unlicensed activity, that the premises is not actively ensuring the promotion of the licensing objectives.”

The officer has asked for the district council to consider removing Mr Ricciardi as the DPS, as they said he was “unable to balance the demands of running the premises as the licence holder/business and being the DPS responsible for the sale of alcohol”.

They also asked for the time customers are allowed in the outside area to be further restricted to possibly no later than 9pm, as they said this would reduce the potential for noise nuisance. The officer also asked for live music to be restricted from being played in the outside area, and for SIA door staff to be required on a Friday and Saturday.

‘We are putting stronger systems in place and will make sure everything is fully compliant’

Responding to the concerns raised by the licensing officer, Mr Ricciardi said: “I know there were some licensing conditions raised, of which I have taken seriously. The Ibiza event was busy, and it was managed safely. Upon advice from licensing, it is now clear that an SIA risk assessment is required for these types of events.

“Drinks were served at 11.07pm. That happened because I took the decision to close the outside bar a little earlier, which I now accept was a mistake, this created a queue inside, and the team decided to serve those already waiting rather than turn them away. The night went smoothly and safely with no incidents.

“As for the complaints, most have not been substantiated, we’re working closely with [the district council] to look into the substantiated complaints properly so we can deal with them effectively.

“Over the last month we’ve been working closely with a specialist licensing consultant, putting stronger systems in place and moving towards formal accreditation as a safe and responsibly managed establishment.

“Our aim now is to build on that success by continuing to deliver five-star service for our customers while making sure everything we do is responsible and fully compliant. I was newly appointed designated premises supervisor in August 2025. My time will now be spent ensuring we comply fully with alcohol sales regulation.

“The Lancaster Lounge has been a real success story, with unprecedented growth, we have fast become one of Cambridgeshire ’s most popular destinations, and we’ve just been recognised by TripAdvisor in the top 10 per cent of restaurants worldwide for guest reviews.

“That award is a credit to our team and to the positive experience we aim to give every guest. Our goal now is to keep building on that success while making sure we run fully in line with licensing regulation.”

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