A 24-hour off licence in Nottingham has been given permission to trade after concerns over street drinking and fighting were dismissed. The former owner of ’24 Express’ in Mansfield Road sold up following problems with their license to trade.
It now has a new owner and they sought a new premises license at a Nottingham City Council licensing panel meeting on December 12. The shop can open for 24 hours but the times for selling alcohol are restricted between 5am until midnight.
Licensing Guys represented the applicant during the hearing. They said the premises is a 'well-stocked shop that has served the local community for decades'.
Read more: Nottingham shop told to shut for 6 months by police after 'oversight'
However, through an 'administrative oversight of the previous operators' the premises license lapsed. The previous operator continued to trade under a temporary notice while a new application was made, however they failed to get authorisation to trade for the hours they actually opened in.
Nottinghamshire Police raised an objection and the council’s licensing committee refused to grant it a premises license on July 19 this year. “Thus the previous operators resolved to sell up and on September 20, 2022, a new commercial lease was assigned to the new operator,” the representatives of the applicant said.
The new applicant intends to continue running the shop as before. Nottinghamshire Police and other authorities raised no objections to the new license, however one man provided a representation under the name ‘Mr Mann’.
Despite attempts to contact him about the panel meeting, he failed to attend on the day. The applicant’s representatives added: “Basically he complained about the previous operation and issues in the locality.
“These are summarised as loitering by street drinkers and ‘rowdies’, cars outside playing loud music, drug-taking and substance abuse, public urination, fighting, sleeping in public areas and specifically concerning the previous operator’s alcohol sales to drunks and sales outside the permitted hours of the premises license.” The panel was told there was no evidence to back up the allegations in considering the new applicant.
A representative of the applicant said: “I attended an interview with Ms Tracey Marvin, of police licensing, at Maid Marian Way on November 7, she checked and he [the applicant] understood all his statutory and social obligations and license conditions. At no time were crime and anti-social behaviour issues in the locality raised, or a history of irresponsible sales to drunks or out of hours sales mentioned.
“I went back to Nottinghamshire Police to ask what was on record regarding these allegations, Ms Marvin confirmed that she was unaware of any reported issues.” The panel was told the applicant has five years of experience working in shops.
After a brief adjournment councillors, returned to grant the license, conditional to the presence of CCTV, no sales of single cans and notices that request customers leave quietly. Councillor Audrey Dinnall (Lab), the chairwoman of the panel, said: “The panel has considered both the application and the written representations from Mr Mann.
“Bearing in mind the contents of the conditions which have been agreed with the police, the panel is content that this application may be granted." The applicant added: “That is such a good Christmas present for us.”
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