An Irvine bar and restaurant caught selling 'fake' Smirnoff vodka has been handed a warning from licensing officials.
Management at the Gulab were issued with the sanction this week after a joint inspection involving Trading Standards and Home Office teams in May.
The Girdle Toll business was called before North Ayrshire Council's licensing board on Wednesday for a review of its premises licence following the incident.
A report prepared before the meeting revealed that tests carried out on two opened bottles displayed as Smirnoff No.21 Red Label vodka did not detect manufacturer Diageo's 'covert marker' – meaning the contents were not genuine Smirnoff vodka.
It was stated that the liquid was a "similar type product" with the same alcohol content but that the Smirnoff spirit had been "replaced or counterfeited".
Opened Smirnoff bottles behind the bar were found not to contain "genuine" product (Image: NAC)
The licensing board was asked to consider suspending the premises licence or proposing the replacement of the premises manager.
Trading Standards officer Steven Bodys told the meeting: "The display and intended sale of alcohol falsely represented as a genuine branded spirit constitutes a serious failure of management and oversight within a licensed premises."
Representing the Gulab was premises manager Davinder Summel and solicitor Ian Hunter.
Mr Hunter argued that the board should not take this course of recommended action against the bar and restaurant.
He noted that Mr Summel has been the premises manager for three years and has spent 16 years working at the Gulab.
During that time, he said that any issues raised had been dealt with promptly and effectively.
Mr Hunter said: "This visit was prompted as a joint operation with immigration officials; their investigations proved to be groundless.
"We believe this was intentional and came from a disgruntled former employee. We believe the motive was to carry this out as a revenge attack.
"It came at a time when a number of prank calls were also received and police were called out to the premises to no effect."
