Shop owner told to stick to midnight closing time

A shop owner who sought to stay open until 2am over two weekends was told that she had to stick to her existing midnight closing time.

Amira Makram, 44, had already used a “temporary event notice” to trade until 2am at her shop, Thingslicious, in Preston Street, Brighton, over one weekend in the middle of last month.

She also wanted to keep her convenience store open later and able to sell drink until 2am on Saturday 26 October and Sunday 27 October and the following weekend.

Sussex Police objected and, as a result, a Brighton and Hove City Council licensing panel was asked to decide the matter.

At the hearing on Tuesday 22 October, Ms Makram’s agent, Graham Hopkins, of GT Licensing, said that she wanted to see if it was worth applying for a late licence over the Christmas period.

But her shop is in a part of Brighton where there are restrictions on late licences because of the “saturation” of licensed premises and the high level of crime and disorder linked to alcohol.

Police licensing officer Mark Thorogood told the hearing that the force would support an extension of the licensed hours over Christmas and the new year.

But he said that premises trading late having served a temporary event notice faced fewer conditions than those relying on a normal drinks licence.

He said that it was against the spirit of the “light touch” regime which was intended for low-risk occasions.

Inspector Dan Eagle said in a written objection that the later trading could undermine the licensing objectives of preventing crime and disorder and public nuisance and promoting public safety.

The panel was told that in the previous 12 months police had recorded 287 crimes within a few hundred yards of the store – and 68 of those involved violence and 28 occurred between midnight and 2am.

The panel was made up three councillors – Ivan Lyons, Paul Nann and Kerry Pickett – and they recognised that Preston Street was an area of concern.

This was partly because of the high number of licensed premises and partly because of the additional risks to public safety because the store is near the beach.

The council’s decision letter said: “The police have provided evidence of the challenges this area faces and the associated crime and disorder and public nuisance.

“The panel notes it is difficult often to attribute incidents to a particular premises as many will take place once away from a licensed premises.

“Door security was discussed but the panel did not have the legal power to add it as a condition and in any event did not consider it would necessarily mitigate the risk.

“Overall, the panel believes that these temporary events will not promote the licensing objectives and it is appropriate to give this ‘counter-notice’ for both events.”

The counter-notice effectively barred Thingslicious from staying open after the premises’ existing midnight closing time.