Licence review warning over late payments

REVIEWS will be held into two Shetland premises if they fail to pay an overdue annual licence fee.

A meeting of the Shetland licensing board heard on Monday morning that the due date for payment was 1 October.

Despite reminders being sent out, the meeting heard that seven premises failed to pay on time.

As of Monday morning there were fees outstanding for two of them – Herrislea House Hotel (£280) and Tagon Stores (£220).

The meeting was told that one of these intended to pay soon and in the other case “they weren’t sure what was happening with the premises”.

But SIC lawyer Paul Wishart said it is a “mandatory fee – there’s no two ways about it, they just have to pay”.

Councillors on the board agreed to follow past decisions and said if the two premises did not pay their fee before the next meeting of the licensing board then a review would be carried out.

Shetland Central member Catherine Hughson said licence holders should be “well aware” of what their legal obligations are.

The board also agreed to send letters to the premises which sent in their annual fee late to remind them about the importance of paying on time.