Wolverhampton city centre shop to have licence reviewed following anti-social behaviour concerns
A shop in Wolverhampton city centre is to have its premises licence reviewed, after police raised concerns about anti-social behaviour caused by alcohol being sold to beggars and street drinkers who are regularly intoxicated
An application to assess The Newsagents in School Street, in the St Peter’s ward, was made by West Midlands Police, who expressed fears that the store’s designated premises supervisor (DPS) Baljit Singh Batiya was not upholding licensing objectives.
Council bosses also received representations from the licensing authority, trading standards and public health, who also raised concerns.
In a letter to licensing chiefs, regulatory officer Aimee Taylor from West Midlands Police said: “The Newsagents, School Street are serving alcohol to beggars and known street drinkers who are intoxicated on a regular basis.
“The neighbourhood team have raised concerns with licensing regarding this premises on a regular basis, and the impact that this has on the city centre. The premises encourages street drinking and begging in the area, which has a knock-on effect increasing the rate of anti-social behaviour.
“Police community support officers, along with police officers, are spending the majority of their tour of duty managing this issue. On a regular basis street drinkers and beggars get aggressive with officers, which is intimidating for other shoppers and members of the public. As this is in the day, ranging from the morning to the afternoon, this is in view of children to see.
“There is a public space protection order covering the city, so officers regularly seize cans from street drinkers. However, this causes them to become aggressive. As the alcohol is so cheap and easily available in single cans, once officers leave the vicinity due to being called to another job, they go and purchase another can despite the premises license holder and DPS being informed.
“On a number of occasions, the neighbourhood team have gone into the shop and warned the DPS not to sell to them again. However, moments after being told, officers have seen staff still serving alcohol – blatantly ignoring the licensing objective of prevention of crime and disorder.
“West Midlands Police are doing all they can to try and stop the anti-social behaviour that is being caused on School Street and to change the reputation it currently has, to try and encourage people to come into the city.
“They have issued street drinkers and beggars with community protection warnings (CPWs) to stop them going into the shop and buying single cans. The premises have been made aware of this but they continue to supply them with alcohol.
“Selling single cans of beer, lager and cider at a high strength for a reduced price would constitute to irresponsible drink promotions. It is also an offence to sell alcohol to a person who is drunk or knowingly allow alcohol to be sold to such person on licensed premises.
“After reviewing the premises license, it is clear that for a city centre premises the conditions fall below expectations. West Midlands Police strongly believe that amending the license to add more stringent conditions would greatly improve the anti-social behaviour that is caused from this premises.”
In further written correspondence, section leader for licensing Amitabh Singh said: “The licensing authority has concerns over the premises, as the evidence provided by West Midlands Police indicates that they are not upholding the licensing objectives and therefore putting the public at risk.”
A letter from the city’s tobacco control officer Dianne Slack added: “On August 4, 2022, trading standards, inspected the premises. Around the counter area and shelving, 116 electronic nicotine devices – vapes – were discovered for sale or supply that either were believed to be incorrectly labelled, had incorrect health warnings or had nicotine tanks believed to be in excess of the legal limit of 2ml.
“These are potential criminal offences under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 and the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016. The vapes were voluntarily surrendered for destruction by Mr Batiya.”
A statement from senior public health specialist Nilusha Sahni said: “The evidence put forward by police is very concerning. This is further exacerbated by the fact that West Midlands Police has actively engaged the relevant parties to seek an amicable way forward which has clearly been disregarded.
“The premises in question is located within one of the most concerning geographical areas to public health, with an overall risk rating of high. It is the view of public health that any licensee who is not actively promoting the licensing objectives should be subject to review, particularly in view of the complex issues facing the area.”
Licensing bosses will discuss the licence review next Tuesday.
