Agenda, decisions and minutes

Review of the Premises Licence for Gidea Park Groceries, 628 Upper Brentwood Road, Gidea Park, RM2 6HS.

Licensing Act 2003

Notice of Decision

PREMISES

Gidea Park Groceries

628 Upper Brentwood Road

Romford

RM2 6HS

DETAILS OF APPLICATION

Application for a review of the premises licence by the Trading Standards Service under section 51 of the Licensing Act 2003 (“the Act”).

APPLICANT

Keith Bush

Divisional Trading Standards Manager

London Borough of Havering

5^th Floor, Mercury House

Mercury Gardens

Romford,

Essex.

RM1 3SL

·         Details of existing licensable activities

·         Grounds for Review

The application had been brought by the London Borough of Havering Trading Standards Service following the sale of alcohol to underage volunteers on one occasion in April 2012. The venue seemed to have a lack of systems and procedures in place to prevent underage sales. Trading Standards had approached the licensee to discuss the steps required to prevent further underage sales. These had not proved fruitful and in the light of the lack of co-operation Trading Standards had sought this review.

·         Promotion of the Licensing Objectives

The review had been requested in order to promote the licensing objectives as shown below:

·         The prevention of crime and disorder

·         The protection of children from harm

·         Details of Representations

Trading Standards – (a responsible authority under the Licensing Act 2003) – The representation stated that:

On 4^th April 2012 at approximately 16:55 the premises were visited as part of an underage test purchase exercise. Two female volunteers were used, one aged 16 and one aged 17. The volunteers were sold a 75cl bottle of Stowell white wine (alc 12.5%vol). The sale was made by a Mr Barish Yildiz. Mr Yildiz failed to challenge the volunteers for their age or request any identification. Mr Yildiz was issued with a Fixed Penalty Notice.

A refusal log was found on site but the last entries were dated 18/1/11 and 18/4/11, indicating that either the document was not being used or no sales had been refused since April 2011. The till prompt system was checked at the time of the sale and it was found that it did not operate for the Stowell wine.

At interview the DPS (Designated Premises Supervisor), Mr Solak, was unable to produce any training records for staff and relied on verbal training. He admitted he had not used the refusal log for over a year. He claimed to operate till prompts but admitted they were not working with all alcoholic drinks, only some. Mr Solak had a drinkaware challenge 25 poster in the window but no other supporting paperwork to show he was actively operating the scheme.

It was noted that the current licence had no conditions attached to it relating to underage sales. A visit was made to the premises on 27^th June 2012 by Keith Bush, Specialist Trading Standards officer, accompanied by Sasha Taylor, Senior Fair  ...  view the full decision text for item 1.

Licensing Act 2003

Notice of Decision

PREMISES

Gidea Park Groceries

628 Upper Brentwood Road

Romford

RM2 6HS

DETAILS OF APPLICATION

Application for a review of the premises licence by the Trading Standards Service under section 51 of the Licensing Act 2003 (“the Act”).

APPLICANT

Keith Bush

Divisional Trading Standards Manager

London Borough of Havering

5^th Floor, Mercury House

Mercury Gardens

Romford,

Essex.

RM1 3SL

·         Details of existing licensable activities

·         Grounds for Review

The application had been brought by the London Borough of Havering Trading Standards Service following the sale of alcohol to underage volunteers on one occasion in April 2012. The venue seemed to have a lack of systems and procedures in place to prevent underage sales. Trading Standards had approached the licensee to discuss the steps required to prevent further underage sales. These had not proved fruitful and in the light of the lack of co-operation Trading Standards had sought this review.

·         Promotion of the Licensing Objectives

The review had been requested in order to promote the licensing objectives as shown below:

·         The prevention of crime and disorder

·         The protection of children from harm

·         Details of Representations

Trading Standards – (a responsible authority under the Licensing Act 2003) – The representation stated that:

On 4^th April 2012 at approximately 16:55 the premises were visited as part of an underage test purchase exercise. Two female volunteers were used, one aged 16 and one aged 17. The volunteers were sold a 75cl bottle of Stowell white wine (alc 12.5%vol). The sale was made by a Mr Barish Yildiz. Mr Yildiz failed to challenge the volunteers for their age or request any identification. Mr Yildiz was issued with a Fixed Penalty Notice.

A refusal log was found on site but the last entries were dated 18/1/11 and 18/4/11, indicating that either the document was not being used or no sales had been refused since April 2011. The till prompt system was checked at the time of the sale and it was found that it did not operate for the Stowell wine.

At interview the DPS (Designated Premises Supervisor), Mr Solak, was unable to produce any training records for staff and relied on verbal training. He admitted he had not used the refusal log for over a year. He claimed to operate till prompts but admitted they were not working with all alcoholic drinks, only some. Mr Solak had a drinkaware challenge 25 poster in the window but no other supporting paperwork to show he was actively operating the scheme.

It was noted that the current licence had no conditions attached to it relating to underage sales. A visit was made to the premises on 27^th June 2012 by Keith Bush, Specialist Trading Standards officer, accompanied by Sasha Taylor, Senior Fair  ...  view the full minutes text for item 1.