Town store is refused alcohol licence due to 'illegal activity'

FEARS “illegal activity may continue into the future” have led to councillors refusing permission for a Derbyshire town centre off-licence to sell alcohol.

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At an Erewash Borough Council meeting on Thursday, councillors refused permission for Gagandeep Singh to sell alcohol from the Ilkeston Store off-licence at 15 Bath Street, Ilkeston.

This follows Carolyn Singleton, the council's licensing manager, finding the shop selling alcohol without a premises licence when she was walking home from work in April. It also includes Derbyshire police and Derbyshire County Council's trading standards teams raising concerns over “further criminality” continuing, with the store owner having been caught selling a vape to an underage child during a test purchase operation.

Meanwhile, illicit tobacco was found under the till, alcoholic spirits found in the rear of the store and further alcohol - 50 cans of beer - were found in a van to the back of the shop. All of this activity, which qualify as several different crimes, occurred after Ms Singleton spotted the shop selling alcohol without a licence - which is also a crime.