A shop owner who wants to turn a Brighton launderette back into a grocery store will not be able to keep it open as late as she would like.
Esra Baser had hoped to be able to sell alcohol until 2am from her premises next to Subway, in Lewes Road, but ran into objections from Sussex Police.
Mrs Baser applied to Brighton and Hove City Council for a licence, having previously held one for the Turkish grocers on the site until 2016.
But council and police licensing officials spelt out concerns about the high number of licensed premises in the area as well as drink-related crime and disorder.
Sussex Police licensing officer Claire Abdulkader said that Mrs Baser had initially applied to stay open until 2am which the force was unable to support.
After discussions with Mrs Baser’s agent Deyra Yilmaz, the proposed closing time was brought forward to 11pm from Sunday to Thursday and to 11.30pm on Friday and Saturdays.
Ms Abdulkader told a council licensing panel that Lewes Road was in St Peter’s and North Laine ward, which had the second-highest number of violent crimes in Brighton and Hove.
At the licensing panel hearing today (Tuesday 18 May) council licensing officer Becky Pratley said that 23 businesses in Lewes Road had an alcohol licence.
Of those, 12 were off licences, six were pubs and five were restaurants where people could drink on the premises.
She said that most licences were old, some of which allowed for 24-hour sales at some off-licences.
Ms Yilmaz said that Mrs Baser would be happy to accept a condition suggested by Green councillor Lizzie Deane, who chaired the panel, to limit alcohol to no more than 15 per cent of the products available in the shop. And alcohol would be kept behind the counter.
The panel retired to make its decision which should be made available within five working days.
