Barking restaurant closed for business for Covid breach Last week, we ordered a local restaurant to close its doors after enforcement officers discovered, during a routine inspection, that it was breaking Covid rules. Sweet London of 62a Longbridge Road, Barking was visited by officers on Friday 23 April who observed 25-30 customers congregating in a wooden structure, sharing shisha and food. As well as not enforcing social distancing, the sale of shisha is prohibited until Monday 21 June at the earliest, so our enforcement team issued a Direction Order to close the premises. The police were also in attendance and issued the business with a £10,000 Fixed Penalty Notice. The Direction Order was issued to the business on Tuesday 27 April and it must remain closed for two weeks, but if significant improvements are made, it may be allowed to open sooner. If you know or suspect a business is breaking Covid rules, you can report them to the council online at www.lbbd.gov.uk/covidabuse.