Asian supermarket refused permission to sell wider range of alcohol

The licence application by 99, in Queen’s Road, was turned down after Sussex Police and Brighton and Hove City Council licensing department raised concerns.

They prompted the licence application after finding drink on sale at the shop before Pride last year.

The specialist supermarket had a licence but it was limited to cooking alcohol, including some rice wines.

But a council licensing panel was told that Asian drinks with high alcohol content were on sale as well as beers and wines.

The shop is in Brighton and Hove’s “cumulative impact zone” (CIZ) where policy restrictions effectively ban new off licences, pubs, clubs and late-night takeaways.

Councillors were concerned that the shop owner Hui Weng would not promote the council’s licensing objectives after Marco Cheng, who spoke on Mrs Weng’s behalf, said that she did not know the original conditions of her licence.

The licensing panel’s decision notice said: “The police are concerned at the lack of understanding by the licence holder of the conditions on the licence and do not have confidence that they would adhere to a more relaxed condition if the application was granted.

“They also highlight the location of the premises in the CIZ and the challenging nature of the area during the day and night.”

The panel said: “Having an alcohol licence is a big responsibility and especially within the CIZ. We do not consider that the applicant has shown a responsible attitude towards their licence and the conditions on it.

“Some of the explanations given by the licence holder for not appreciating the conditions on the licence we do not find plausible.

“Breaches of licence conditions have been identified very recently by the police.

“Therefore, at this point in time, and when the current conditions are not being complied with, the panel do not have sufficient confidence or trust in the licence holder to grant this variation and permit an increased range of alcohol for sale.”