A CELEBRITY hangout has been stopped from staying open later a after fight there ended in death threats.

Redbridge Council refused to let Woodford Green TOWIE hotspot La Sala extend its opening hours until 2am on Fridays and Saturdays and 12.30am on Sundays at a licensing hearing today (May 15).

The Chigwell Road venue threatened to go the High Court when the council’s licensing committee rejected a similar bid in 2015. But eventually officers met the owners half way and let them close at midnight on week nights and 1am on weekends.

At the meeting at Redbridge Town Hall in Ilford La Sala’s director Paul Groman-Marks rubbished neighbours claims the second bid was “trying to turn it into a night club”.

He said: “We are a food-led venue. Our sales are 65 per cent food and 35 per cent drink.

“We do not let people in without a restaurant booking – you can’t just come in for a drink.

“Our customers want to eat later and stay at the venue longer, but our kitchen closes at 11pm.

“So without these extended hours it will be difficult to maintain the business with so much competition in the area.”

But neighbours and ward councillor Paul Canal slammed the Marbella-based chain’s claims.

Cllr Canal said: “La Sala is a Jekyll and Hyde operation. In the early hours it is Dr Jekyll, a quiet bar with some guests.

“As 11pm approaches, when most sensible people do not embark on a three course meal, it becomes Mr Hyde, complete with strange potions such as the Pornstar Martini, and becomes a late-night bar.

“Residents have had to endure street fights, fire bombings, and grossly excessive noise and disturbance.

“And it is unfair that year on year my residents have to take time off work to defend their right to enjoy their own properties.”

The committee heard evidence of nine police calls associated with the venue between March 2016 and April 2017, including two “glassings”, one of which ended in threats to shoot someone dead.

Trevor Pooley, of Chigwell Road, said: “I’m 15 metres away and I don’t fancy bullets coming through my window.

“Late-night drinking is advertised on La Sala’s website and the opening hours are already excessive.

“This has to stop somewhere. Enough is enough.”

Jan Pollard, of Stoneycroft Road, agreed, claiming she knows people who go to La Sala just to have a drink and is forced to close her windows because of the noise.

But Mr Groman-Marks stood his ground, saying: “The police incidents all happened before midnight, and none happened at the time of closing.

“So residents’ claims the later we are open the more likely noise, crime, and disorder will be is incorrect and fearmongering.

“Our door manager walks around telling people to be wary of nearby residents, but we can’t chase people down the street telling them to be quiet.

“We have increased our door staff in response to residents’ concerns – we want to work with them not against them.”

But despite the police’s decision not to make a formal objection to the application, licensing officers said the “serious” crime allegations linked to La Sala “could be exacerbated by later opening hours”, and refused it.