The owners of a Bradford restaurant which has continued providing shisha pipes despite the smoking ban have been fined a second time by the courts.

Shabbir and Syima Merali, who run Markaz Restaurant and Shisha Lounge in Centenary Square, were taken to court earlier this year by Bradford Council and fined £3,000.

Mrs Merali appeared before Bradford magistrates today and pleaded guilty to three counts of failing to stop customers smoking, adding a further £4,950 in fines.

The fines relate to three separate dates, two in March and one in April, when the Council’s environmental health officers found water pipes being smoked on the premises.

All three instances followed magistrates in Bingley finding the business guilty of three separate charges, two of not preventing customers from smoking at the restaurant, and one for failing to display No Smoking signs. The pair must also pay a total of £3,493 and £30 in victims surcharges across the two cases.

Mrs Merali told the court that half of Markaz’s income was down to the hookah pipes and they were in fact now making a loss. She said they had applied for a licence to serve alcohol in a bid to boost takings, and they have recently submitted an application to create a smoking pavilion outside the restaurant.

She said: “It’s not the case we are carrying on wilfully breaking the smoking legislation without trying to resolve things. Once the planning application goes through we will take the shisha outside.”

The Meralis are part of the Save the Shisha campaign, which is pressing for an exemption to the Health Act, which banned smoking in enclosed public spaces in July. The shisha waterpipes give off a mix of tobacco and charcoal smoke and are banned under the legislation.

Solicitor Richard Winter, for the Council, said Markaz had introduced a membership form which anyone wanting to smoke shisha must sign beforehand, stating the business does not bear responsibility – but this does not absolve them of responsibility.

“In not complying with the smokefree legislation they have gained a commercial advantage,” he said.

John Major, the Council’s assistant director of environmental health, said: “This is the second successful prosecution of the Markaz shisha bar for allowing smoking on the premises and we will continue to prosecute businesses that flout the law.

“Since July 1 last year, it has been illegal to smoke in any enclosed space. The law covers the smoking of tobacco and any other substance.”

He said the Council visited the restaurant last month and will be visiting again in the near future.