Agenda item

The Director of Neighbourhood and Environmental Services submits a report for an application for a review of an existing premises licence for Victoria News and Booze, 81 Howard Road, Leicester.

Members of the Sub-Committee were informed that written representations, together with an application to transfer the Premises Licence to Luckveer Kaur Digpal had been received very late on the day before the hearing.

 

Pursuant to Regulation18 of the Licensing Act 2003 (Hearings) Regulations 2005, the Applicant requesting the review was asked to consider whether they wished to consent to the written representations and documents to be submitted at the hearing or to request an adjournment if further time was needed to consider the written representations and documents.

 

All parties agreed that the hearing should go ahead and to that end Mr Robert Sutherland, whilst reserving his legal position, agreed to make oral representations instead of insisting on the written material being submitted.

 

Councillor Barton, as Chair led on introductions and outlined the procedure the hearing would follow.

 

The Director of Neighbourhood and Environmental Services submitted a report on an application for a review of an existing premises licence for Victoria News and Booze, 81 Howard Road, Leicester.

 

Noel Cazley, was present having made representations on behalf of Trading Standards. PC Derek Bausor from Leicestershire Police was present. Also in attendance were the premises licence holder Ms Paramjeet Kaur, her daughter-in-law Ms Luckveer Digpal, and her licensing agent Mr Robert Sutherland, solicitor from RDSLAW Ltd were present. Also present were the Team Manager (Regulatory Services), the Legal Adviser to the Sub-Committee, and two observers from Trading Standards.

 

The Team Manager (Regulatory Services) presented the report and outlined details of the application.

 

A representation was received on 18 December 2025 from Leicestershire Police. The representation related to the prevention of crime and disorder, the prevention of public nuisance, public safety and the protection of children from harm. Leicester Police were concerned that the premises had repeated failures to prevent underage sales, possession and sale of illegal vape and tobacco products, lack of staff training and poor management.

 

A representation was received on 27 November 2025 from a member of the public. This was a positive representation praising the premises and staff.

 

Mr Cazley,Trading Standards Officer, was given the opportunity to outline the details of their review application and answered questions from Members.

 

PC Bausor, Police Constable for Leicestershire Police, was given the opportunity to outline the details of their evidence and answered questions from Members.

 

Mr Sutherland and Ms Digpal were given the opportunity to address the Sub-Committee and answered questions from the Members and officers.

 

All parties present were then given the opportunity to sum up their positions and make any final comments.

 

The Sub-Committee received legal advice from the Legal Adviser to the Sub-Committee in the presence of all those present and were advised of the options available to them in making their decision. The Sub-Committee were also advised of the relevant policy and statutory guidance that needed to be taken into account when making their decision.

 

In reaching their decision, Members felt they should deliberate in private on the basis that this was in the public interest, and as such this outweighed the public interest of their deliberation taking place with the parties represented present, in accordance with the Licensing Act 2003 (Hearings) Regulations 2005.

 

The Chair announced that the decision and reasons would be announced in writing within five working days. The Chair informed the meeting that the Legal Adviser to the Sub-Committee would be called back to give advice on the wording of the decision.

 

The Sub-Committee recalled the Legal Adviser to the Sub-Committee to give advice on the wording of the decision.

 

RESOLVED:

Members of the Sub-Committee considered that due to the seriousness of the allegations against the premises it was appropriate and proportionate in the overall interest of the community to:

 

1.    Modify the conditions as proposed by Mr Sutherland and add one condition of their own set out below.

 

2.    Remove Paramjeet Kaur as the Designated Premises Supervisor.

 

Members of the Sub-Committee determined that having considered the previous history and the evidence, there must be monitoring of the premises and that the licence holder must, by the end of July of 2026, meet with the Licensing Manager to provide evidence of compliance with each of the new seven conditions.

 

Conditions:

 

1. "Challenge 25":

 

The Licensee to adhere to a "Challenge 25" policy where all customers who appear to be under the age of 25 and attempt to purchase alcohol or other age restricted products are asked for proof of their age.

 

The following proofs of age are the only ones to be accepted :

 

·       Proof of age cards bearing the "Pass" hologram symbol

·       UK Photo Driving licence

·       Passport

 

The Licensee to ensure that each member of staff authorised to sell alcohol is sufficiently capable and confident to confront and challenge under - 18s attempting to purchase alcohol.

Notices will be prominently displayed at the entry and point of sale stating that CCTV is in use, Challenge 25 is operated and the provisions of the licensing act regarding underage and proxy purchases and sales.

 

2. Training

 

A Challenge 25 policy will be adopted with the only acceptable proof of age identification consisting of a current passport, photo card driving licence or identification carrying a PASS logo. A training record must be kept on the premises, retained for 12 months from the date of the incident and subject to Data Protection Act 2018, produced to an officer from a responsible authority upon request.

 

3. Refusals Book:

 

The licensee to keep a register of refused sales of all age- restricted products (Refusals Book).

 

The refusals book to contain details of time and date, description of the attempting purchaser, description of the age restricted products they attempted to purchase, reason why the sale was refused and the name/signature of the sales person refusing the sale.

 

The Refusals book to be examined on a regular basis by the Licensee and date and time of each examination to be endorsed in the book.

 

The Refusals Book to be kept on the licensed premises and made available for inspection by the Licensing Officer, Trading Standards or the Police.

 

4. Incident Book

 

An incident log shall be kept on the premises, retained for a period of 12 months from the date of the incident and made available to an officer from a responsible authority upon request. The incident log must be completed within 24 hours of the incident and record the following:

 

(a)  All crimes reported to the premises.

(b)  Any complaints received concerning crime, disorder and anti-social behaviour.

(c)  Any incidents of crime, disorder and anti-social behaviour inside, associated to the premises or immediately outside the premises.

(d)  Any faults in the CCTV system.

 

5. CCTV

 

The licence holder will ensure a CCTV camera system is installed, operational and recording whilst the premises is open to the public. The system must permit the identification of individual(s) in all lighting conditions.

 

·       CCTV cameras must cover all areas that the public have access to, including the entrance, exit and forecourt area immediately outside the premises.

·       CCTV system images must be securely stored, display an accurate date/time stamp and retained for a minimum of 31 days.

·       Subject to the Data Protection Act 2018, the licence holder will ensure the premises CCTV is provided to an officer from a responsible authority in a downloadable and viewable format within fourteen days of being requested.

·       The licence holder will ensure that there is always a member of staff trained and available to download CCTV images/ footage immediately or an agreed timescale if requested by the police or the Licensing Authority in accordance with the Data Protection Act 2018.

 

6. Notices

 

A notice will be prominently displayed by the exit asking customers to respect nearby residents and to leave quietly, not to loiter outside the shop and not to drink in the street so as to cause a nuisance or disorder in the area.

 

Notices will be prominently displayed advising customers of the "Challenge 25" policy.

 

7. Alcohol/Tobacco /Vape stock

 

·       Only the Premises Licence Holder, Designated Premises Supervisor or any member of staff authorised by the Premises Licence Holder shall purchase alcohol and / or tobacco stock.

·       The premises licence holder and any other persons responsible for the purchase of stock shall not purchase any goods from door-to- door sellers.

·       The premises licence holder shall ensure that all receipts for goods bought are kept together in a file or folder as evidence that they have been brought into the UK through legal channels. Receipts shall show the following details:

(1) Seller's name and address;

(2) Seller's company details, if applicable;

(3) Seller's VAT details, if applicable;

(4) AWRS registration number for alcohol stock.

Copies of these documents shall be retained for no less than 12 months and shall be made available to police or authorised officers of the council on request within five working days of the request. The most recent three months’ worth of receipts shall be kept on the premises and made available to the police or authorised officers of the council on request.

·       All tobacco products which are not on the tobacco display shall be stored in a container clearly marked ‘Tobacco Stock’. This container shall be kept within the storeroom or behind the sales counter.

·       Tobacco products shall only be taken from the tobacco display behind the sales counter in order to make a sale.

 

 

The Premises Licence holder has 21 days to appeal.