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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Business
Mel King & Sam Barker

McColl's forced to suspend all sales of lottery tickets and alcohol due to Morrisons takeover

Convenience store chain McColl's has stopped selling alcohol in all its stores due to the takeover by Morrisons.

Morrisons is buying all McColl's stores and saving 16,000 jobs after the firm announced its administration last week.

McColl's said it had to go into administration "to preserve the future of the business and to protect the interests of employees" before the Morrisons rescue deal.

The convenience store chain has over 1,100 outlets across England, Scotland and Wales.

But black barriers have been erected over all alcohol, PayPoints and Lotto tickets across McColl's stores, EssexLive reports.

It is understood that the store cannot sell these items in any stores due to licensing issues following the Morrisons takeover.

Lotto tickets have also been removed from sale (essexlive.news)

Customer notices were put up inside McColl's stores such as Leigh-on-Sea, Essex.

The notice reads: "Unfortunately we are required by law to temporarily suspend all alcohol sales. Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience caused. We look forward to serving you as soon as we can."

Signs erected on the Lotto ticket section also read: "Lotto services are currently unavailable. Apologies for any inconvenience caused."

Morrisons has confirmed the suspension is affecting all stores but it is unable to say when the issue will be resolved.

The supermarket has assured EssexLive it is working on getting the problem fixed as quickly as possible.

A spokesperson from Morrison's said: "With regard to the sale of alcohol, it is something impacting all stores and we are working at pace to apply for all the correct licenses."

McColl's runs approximately 1,100 convenience stores and newsagents across Britain, some of which have been converted to Morrisons Daily stores.

As well as McColl's stores, the company also runs Martin's newsagents.

The firm has 755 McColl's stores, 270 called Morrisons Daily, 116 Martin's and eight called RS McColl, the latter all in Scotland.

It has Post Office counters in a third of its 1,100 branches.

McColl's says 5million Brits visit one of its shops every week - around 7% of us.

McColl's was founded in 1901 as a single store, in Scotland, by footballer Robert Smyth.

It became a retail group in 1973 and floated on the London Stock Exchange in January 2014.

Last week McColl's was set to have its shares suspended from the London Stock Exchange as bosses said they would be unable to get its accounts signed off by auditors in time.

Morrisons was initially lined up to rescue McColl's before it went into administration last week.

It made a bid for the convenience store chain last week, but it was rejected.

Morrisons is also a major supplier to McColl's, and provides products under the Safeway brand.

The supermarket has also promised to protect the pensions of all McColl's workers.

McColl's says 5million Brits visit one of its shops every week - around 7% of us.

McColl's raised £30million from shareholders in a cash call just seven months ago.

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