A restaurant owner who was fined £500 for staying open after 10pm on the last night before lockdown has been given the money by his customers.

Yahie Ahad, who runs the Raj Bari Indian restaurant in Tubs Hill, London Road, Sevenoaks, said he was overwhelmed by their generosity.

His premises were visited at 10.30pm by police on Wednesday, November 4 - the night everyone was having a last hurrah before the second lockdown came into force the next day.

When officers found customers still in the building, they issued him with a £1,000 penalty notice - reduced to £500 if paid within 14 days.

Mr Ahad subsequently told KentOnline that he had not wanted to break the law and had closed the restaurant at 10pm but it had been difficult to persuade some customers to leave.

He said: "Some people are very nice and left straight away when asked, others who had perhaps had a few drinks, were reluctant to go."

But after KentOnline ran the story on Saturday, Mr Ahad went into his restaurant the next morning to find an envelope on the doormat.

He said: "It was £500 in cash."

He later discovered a Tweet to the restaurant saying the gift was from Mark and "some of the boys" as "a contribution towards the fine" with the wish that lockdown didn't prove too damaging for the business.

As Mr Ahad had already set aside money to pay the fine, he has decided to donate the gift to the NHS.

He has also re-instituted an appeal to raise more money for the NHS Charities Together, which support key workers in the health service.

In April, during the first lockdown, Mr Ahad raised £5,000 for NHS Charities Together.

His current appeal which is running on the restaurant's Facebook page has reached £150.

Although the seating area of the Raj Bari has now closed as per lockdown regulations, the restaurant is still proving takeaway meals ordered and paid for over the phone, with staff taking the order out to customers waiting in the car park.

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