A COCKTAIL and live music bar in Soho where a customer alleged he was orally raped in a toilet has been temporarily shut down by police.

Louche on Greek Street was temporarily closed from Friday, with a full review of its licence due to take place.

Westminster City Council, which granted the closure, also temporarily banned the sale of alcohol and ordered the removal of the current designated premises supervisor at a licensing meeting last Friday.

The alleged victim said that the suspect had entered his cubicle while he was trying to exit and forced him back inside where he was repeatedly assaulted and eventually forced to perform oral sex, a council report stated.

The alleged victim was reported to have made multiple attempts to escape but the ordeal had only ended when a member of the public heard his cries for help and alerted security.

An arrest has been made.

The Metropolitan Police Service said Louche’s response to the incident had been “shockingly inadequate” and had put customers and the public at risk.

A lawyer representing the MPS said rather than detaining the suspect, Louche’s security guards escorted him and the alleged victim outside where he then disappeared.

The lawyer said: “Nobody called the police.

“The manager on site didn’t call the police. The first thing she did was call the general manager to ask what to do.”

It was said a suspect was eventually tracked down using CCTV from private venues and an ID scanner used by another venue.

Louche’s owner Dennis Rogers, who runs Louche and a private members’ club in Soho with his son Elliott, said he was appalled by the way security guards handled the alleged sexual assault.

He said: “It was a terrible, terrible, situation that happened that night with an individual who was looking for this kind of thing to happen. Equally, we don’t excuse the behaviour of the management nor do we excuse the behaviour of the security staff.”

Mr Rogers added: “It’s a very, very, awkward thing for us to be shut for a month.

“There are large overheads for operating in Soho.”

But the lawyer for the MPS said: “The point is about trust.

“It’s about trust in the middle of Soho in an area with a high-risk venue which serves alcohol and is essentially a nightclub, and they didn’t take these steps to keep their customers safe.”

He told city councillors that the owners “…have shown such disregard for their customers’ safety that we have serious concerns this will happen again.

“If we don’t suspend the licence there will be another crime.

“There may well be another sexual assault that could have been prevented.”

Licensing committee chair, Labour councillor Angela Piddock, said: “The committee is satisfied it is necessary and proportionate for the steps outlined to be taken.”