A Brighton shop has lost its licence to sell alcohol as police investigate claims that the owners kept two slaves there.
Brighton and Hove City Council revoked the premises licence for the Premier Express Saltdean Convenience Store, formerly known as Saltdean News.
The council revoked the licence after a request from Sussex Police who said that two people working at the shop, in Longridge Avenue, Saltdean, were found living there in unsafe conditions.
The police said that the owners and joint premises licence holders Krunal Chandrakant Patel and Kirma Krunal Patel had also breached licensing rules.
One of the two people working at the shop said that they did not have a national insurance number, and their earnings were paid into someone else’s bank account, with their permission.
The account holder then paid their money to someone else to clear a debt, a council licensing panel was told.
The police said that they were paid £200 each for a 96-hour week and, including accommodation, earned the equivalent of £2.60 an hour. The minimum wage is £8.21.
Peter Savill, counsel for Sussex Police, told the licensing panel hearing that their wages were “a pittance”.
One of the people found staying at the shop did not have the right to live or work in the UK, according to the police.
Neither of them had passports, saying that they had been lost over the course of several moves, and immigration checks found that one was an “overstayer”.
A police report prepared by Inspector Rob Lovell said: “Both (staff members) state they have not been threatened with violence.
“But it became obvious to officers that they do not understand what financial exploitation is or that they may be being coerced to work due to the outstanding debt.
“(The staff members) were crying during this explanation, stating that they needed to pay the debt back.”
The two staff members lived at the back of the shop in a small room with a double bed and a microwave and had access to a separate toilet.
At the licensing panel hearing, on Tuesday 9 March, Mr Savill said that Saltdean News was one of three premises owned by the Patels to have been raided in December.
Well done to the officers who keep up with these torrid premises.
That is good news, but surely the shop should be closed down, and not just have its alcohol licence revoked? And shouldn’t the owners be prosecuted for breaking so many laws including slavery?