Bradford Council has pledged to crack down on rogue take-away outlets who cheat licensing laws.

The promise comes after a takeaway owner was fined £5,000 for selling food after 11pm without a late night operating licence.

Abdul Rehman, 32, of Sandford Road, Bradford Moor, pleaded guilty to three offences of trading without a licence between the hours of 11pm and 5am at a hearing at Bradford Magistrates Court.

As well as the fine Rehman, who owns Nafeez Indian Cuisine, in Otley Road, had to pay £871 costs and a £15 victim surcharge.

The case was brought by Bradford Council following late-night test purchases made from the takeaway.

A spokesman for the Council said the court was told that despite letters of advice being sent to Rehman and a visit by enforcement officers to his business, he continued to trade after 11pm without a licence.

The spokesman said: “Our enforcement officers are determined to crack down on businesses which gain an unfair advantage over others by breaking the law.

“We always try to co-operate and advise traders over the issue but when they ignore the advice we will not hesitate to invoke the law.

“The size of the fine in this case shows that the courts treat licence-dodging as a very serious matter and it should act as a clear deterrent to those who might otherwise be tempted to follow Mr Rehman’s example.”

Councillor Ghazanfer Khaliq (Lab, Bradford Moor), Bradford Council’s executive member for environment and sustainability, said: “The message is that with anybody who falls foul of the law, the Council will take enforcement very seriously. They are trading without the necessary licence and that is unacceptable.

“This is something we are keen to vigorously enforce.”

He added: “The whole point of the restrictions is to make sure it doesn’t have an adverse impact on neighbours, with regards to noise, nuisance and disturbances.”