Smoking shisha pipes. Pic: Lars Plougmann

A shisha bar in Whitechapel was served with a permanent closure notice this week after incidents of stabbing, drugs and anti-social behaviour.

A multiple stabbing incident took place at The Loft shisha bar on Commercial Road on December 19. Paramedics were called to the scene treated a number of people for injuries.

The bar was shut down for a month by Thames magistrates 10 days later, after a separate incident in which drugs were seized during a police raid.

Tower Hamlets police also used anti-social behaviour powers to bring a hearing to the magistrate’s court.

Owner of The Loft, Husshan Uddin, was also found guilty of allowing smoking in an enclosed space and fined £2,000, and was ordered to pay £2,500 in damages. Smoking shisha or any other kind of tobacco indoors is outlawed in public places such as bars.

Councillor Ohid Ahmed, cabinet member for community safety in Tower Hamlets, added: “It is important that we work together to ensure all businesses within Tower Hamlets operate within the law. It is good to see that our system to police these offences is working effectively.”