A convenience store owner wants a drinks licence from 8am to 11pm but Sussex Police have objected because of the amount of alcohol-related crime close to the shop’s location.
Masam Haidari, 30, owner of Mazar Market, at 56 Western Road, Brighton, said that he applied for a premises licence to meet customer demand.
The business is in the former Santander bank building which was previously a BetFred branch and more recently Kantina café.
It is in a busy area where Brighton and Hove City Council has a policy of restricting new off-licences because of the high concentration of alcohol-led businesses and crime.
At a council licensing panel hearing today (Tuesday 20 February), Sussex Police licensing officer Mark Thorogood asked councillors to refuse the application.
Mr Thorogood said that between the start of Western Road and Norfolk Square, there were already six off-licences, with three trading for 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Sussex Police said that over 12 months there were 143 violent crimes, 97 cases of anti-social behaviour, 46 incidents of public disorder and 31 of criminal damage within a 160-metre radius (175 yards) of Mazar Market.
Mr Thorogood said: “We acknowledge that not all this crime is related to the consumption of alcohol but we do appreciate it often plays a part when looking at the crime types.
“Permitting a further off-licence and so increasing the availability of alcohol could have a further negative impact within the area.”
The force was also concerned about making more alcohol available to people drinking in nearby public spaces such as Clarendon Square and Russell Square.
The council’s licensing team also opposed the application.
Mr Haidari’s licensing agent Oisin Daly, of Absolute Licensing Solutions, proposed extra conditions attached to the licence such as a requirement that customers spend more on groceries than alcohol.
Councillor Toby Sheard asked if Mr Haidari would be willing to consider reducing the proposed hours for the sale of alcohol and he said that he would. No specific start or end times were mentioned at the meeting.
Mr Daly said: “We have to determine if this is an off-licence in the traditional sense or is it a shop that sells alcohol.
“There is a difference to that and we have offered the additional condition where customers spend more on groceries.”
Sussex Police asked, if the licence was approved, for a condition that limited the sale of beer and cider to multipacks only. An exception could be made for premium and craft products.
Should the council agree to grant the licence, no more than 20 per cent of the shop floor area could be used to display drink.
The panel retired to make its decision which should be made public within five working days.
Last thing the area needs is another off-licence selling to all the day drinkers.
But tbh the licence should be rejected just on the grounds of the state of the place. Pallets stacked on the pavement, rubbish everywhere, blind hanging off the front… Maybe focus on tidying it up instead of alcohol
No no no no no no no no no no
Another one, same owners as other shops ?? Too many booze sheds already on location.
Its the shops that sell alcohol for 24 hrs that are causing the problems. Not bars/clubs etc. Plus i live near the Police are the problem for letting open drug dealing and taking go unchallenged. The whole area is full of addicts begging.
It is in a busy area where Brighton and Hove City Council has a policy of restricting new off-licences because of the high concentration of alcohol-led businesses and crime. So, unless that’s changed, it should be rejected.
This is “shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted”. If so many shops in the area sell alcohol, one more won’t make a difference. Only in Britain would a grocery be stopped from selling alcohol.