Pub Owned by Former Mayor of Hounslow Has Licence Suspended
Immigration raid found visa overstayers paying £500 a month for rooms
Left: The Old Oak Tree pub and hotel. Right: Gurpreet Grewal gives evidence to Licensing Panel
March 20, 2026
A pub and hotel co-owned by the former Mayor of Hounslow has had its licence suspended for three months following a licensing and immigration raid.
In November 2025, following intelligence the pub was opening after closing time to host illegal dancers and workers, immigration enforcement, the police, and licensing officers executed a warrant on The Old Oak Tree, located at The Common in Southall. The pub and hotel are co-owned by former Labour mayor Darshan Grewal, and his wife, Gurpreet Grewal – who is responsible for the premises.
During the visit, officers found multiple individuals in breach of visa conditions who were allegedly renting rooms at the hotel for months at a time, paying £500 per month. Outside, officers confronted a group of males described as evidently using drugs and drinking alcohol.
Due to their “obstructive and aggressive nature” the police officers present called for backup. After the group had been moved along, officers found a large “Rambo-style” machete. In total five people were arrested.
This was not the first time the Old Oak Tree has been in trouble with authorities. In November 2019, authorities attended the pub in response to a complaint, and encountered “naked female[s] dancing for a male customer sat on a seat.”
Two other females were seen “dressed in lingerie” and spoke openly to officers about how they “charge £10 for a naked dance but do not allow contact.” An unregistered door supervisor told authorities that he took entrance fees, but does not possess an SIA badge.
When questioned, Mr Grewal stated that this was a private booking. During Wednesday’s hearing, Mrs Grewal blamed the former manager, and claimed that as soon as she was told about what was happening, they closed it down. Robert Dear, a council licence officer corrected Mrs Grewal, reminding her that it was in fact the authorities that shut down the party.
Mr Dear asked Mrs Grewal if she was aware that recent online reviews of her hotel detail experiences of encountering bed bugs. Mrs Grewal said she was aware, and that an exterminator had been brought in to deal with the infestation.
During a 2025 raid, officers found three people living in a caravan they rented from Mrs Grewal on the site, all of whom were overstayers or in breach of visa conditions. Similarly, in November 2023, immigration officers found that “every [hotel] room checked had immigration offenders inside” and found an opened room with “15 suitcases with name tags assuming these belonged to recent arrivals” – 9 people were arrested.
Defending her position, Mrs Grewal said she checked everyone’s passports when coming to stay, and maintained people did not stay for long periods of time – a fact disputed by council officers.
The committee also considered a number of other offences including noise complaints. In 2025, noise complaint officers had to visit the pub seven times.
During one visit in September 2025, officers found “multiple groups of people outside doing balloons and drinking alcohol outside in the seating area.” They also noted “customers doing balloons in their car in the parking area.”
This is not the first time or venue which has landed the former Mayoress of Hounslow in hot water. In 2010, police accused her husband of ignoring warnings about drunkenness and violence at one of her restaurants, just weeks before a customer left with a fractured skull.
In 2006, several councillors called on former Mayor Grewal to resign after a story published in the Hounslow Chronicle, alleged that the Mayor’s wife, Mrs Gurpreet Grewal, had applied for ‘an adult entertainment’ licence for the Sanson Palais club – also known as Mystique nightclub – in Bath Road, Hounslow.
The former Mayor was said to be “stunned” that his wife’s name was involved in the application and announced within hours that the application to Hounslow Council had been withdrawn claiming that he didn’t think Hounslow needed it. He did not resign.
Despite the number of licence breaches, the Old Oak Tree will be allowed to maintain its licence after a three-month suspension. In that time, the Ealing Council licensing subcommittee have called for an improvement plan to be put into place.
The pub and hotel will also be forced to operate under a number of new conditions including without a smoking shelter and with doors and windows closed post-9pm. Additionally, the venue must operate under a written noise management plan.
Philip James Lynch - Local Democracy Reporter
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