Off-licence barred from alcohol sales after boss 'hid' illegal cigarettes from officials

An off-licence has been barred from selling alcohol after it repeatedly failed to carry out proper age-checks and the owner tried to hide illegal cigarettes from officials.

Stockport council licence chiefs also heard how Drinks Allowed - known as Go Local, in Castle Street, Edgeley - had failed to comply with conditions relating to the storage of CCTV footage. A report to the authority’s licensing sub-committee described boss Ashkay Singh Ahuja as demonstrating ‘complete disregard for the law’.

His solicitor, Kashiff Khan, said Mr Ahuja accepted there had been ‘shortfalls’ and the shop ‘needed to improve’, but pleaded for him to be given a second chance, adding the revocation of the licence would be ‘devastating’ for him. However, after hearing evidence from trading standards and the council’s licensing team, the three-strong panel decided the most severe penalty was warranted.

READ MORE : 'Money-motivated' off-licence boss tried to hide stash of illegal cigarettes during police raid

Chair Councillor Chris Gordon said there had been ‘significant repeated failures’ in compliance and it was therefore ’reasonable, balanced, appropriate and proportionate’ to revoke the licence. The review was triggered after police and licensing chiefs visited the shop last August as part of national illicit tobacco disruption initiative Operation CeCe.

Government guidance states the use of the licensed premises for the sale or storage of smuggled tobacco and alcohol should be treated ‘particularly seriously’. Officials did not initially discover any illicit items during a visit to the shop on August 25, 2021 - although the ‘young male’ left in charge of the store was not authorised or trained to sell alcohol.

But GMP later received reports