January 11, 2019 2.49 pm This story is over 62 months old

Illegal booze found at Spalding shop

The shop has had its licence revoked

Spalding Express on Commercial Road. Photo: Google Street View

A shop in Spalding has had its premises license revoked by the local district council due to selling illegal alcohol.

Spalding Express on Commercial Road was in front of the Panel of the Licensing Committee after five visits were made by Lincolnshire Police, Trading Standards and South Holland District Council Licensing Officers.

The visits uncovered numerous breaches including the sale of illegal foreign alcohol, selling below the mandatory price and at an ABV (alcohol by volume) percentage beyond the maximum permitted within their licence.

Licence holder Mr Majid Rostam Mohamed was present at the hearing on Thursday, January 10, where the SHDC panel ruled that the premises licence should be revoked, subject to appeal.

This followed repeated breaches of the conditions of the licence and a lack of confidence Mr Mohamed, as well as the presence of smuggled alcohol at the shop.

The ban on alcohol sales at the premises will come into effect after 21 days, depending on whether an appeal is lodged with the Magistrates Court.

Visits by authorities

  • On September 25, Trading Standards found smuggled bottles of vodka for sale at the premises, which had no UK Duty Stamps. The shop were unable to provide any receipts or invoices to show legitimate purchase and did not have their premises license on display
  • This was followed by a visit in October by Lincolnshire Police and South Holland District Council, where beer was found for sale individually priced and of 9% ABV – this is stronger than the 6.5% allowed in their licence conditions
  • Staff and the premises holder were unable to operate the CCTV camera in the shop
  • They could not present training records or evidence of having a policy regarding underage sales
  • There was also no logbook for refusal of sales or other incidents present.
  • Many of the same concerns were still in place during visits in November and December by police and the district council.
  • Licensing officers found cans of 7% cider
  • A premises search by police also discovered suspicious behaviour, including a logbook recording the brands of several illegal cigarettes with figures alongside them.

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