An Ipswich town centre bar is set to turn into a restaurant after police intervened and asked for its licence to the reviewed. 

Bar A to Z in Great Colman Street was taken to Ipswich Borough Council by Suffolk police after it believed the bar was not adhering to its licensing conditions and was causing a nuisance. 

The licensing and regulatory sub-committee meeting took place on Tuesday, where the police along with the bar's owner Hasan Demaj agreed to convert the bar into a restaurant and reduce its service hours.

Sharon Betts-Palmer from Suffolk police told the council that the force is happy for the venue to bring forward the closing time from 1am to 11pm.

Bar A to Z would also remove permission for the exhibition of films, performance of live music and late-night refreshments. 

The council agreed to the recommendations put forward by the police. 

Mr Demaj said: “I don’t want to do any more, and I do not want to cause any more trouble, I have enough and want to run my business as a family restaurant.

"I just want to do good things.”

The premises will still be able to serve alcohol, but only to those eating food as well. 

The police had issued several warnings to Mr Demaj since January 2023 and issued a notice in May 2023 regarding incidents of loud noises, lack of door staff and CCTV footage that sometimes was not available. 

By September 2023, the police noticed that a lot of the work they wanted had been done by Mr Demaj, and rescinded their notice.

However, in 2024 the police approached the bar with an incident and noticed there was one less door staff than required and when requested CCTV footage was not available to the police.  

"On July 4 last year there was a flood in the roof, leaks everywhere and the kitchen was flooded, which meant we lost a lot of business," Mr Demaj explained.  

He told the sub-committee that the CCTV was also affected by the leaks, and he has still not been paid back by the insurers to fix the leaks.

He claims he has now made some amendments to the roof, fixed the CCTV and has new staff ready to run the venue as a restaurant.

They will still be allowed to serve alcohol, but only to those eating food. Bar A to Z will still be allowed to serve alcohol, but only to those eating food. (Image: CHARLOTTE BOND)

Legal adviser Jonathan Reed said: “Members have very carefully considered what you said.

"We will modify the condition made by Suffolk Constabulary, and a revised premises licence will be sent to Mr Demaj.“