A plan by a phone and technology store in Reading town centre to sell alcohol has been withdrawn after its owner was previously accused of drinks sales to teens.
SmartTech in Broad Street opened two years ago in the former EE store that was closed in 2017.
It has been selling phones, accessories and providing repair services to customers ever since.
Last month, the business owners applied to sell alcohol from the shop from 7am to 1am each night.
To do this, it requires a licence from Reading Borough Council.
However, the licensing application has now been withdrawn.
A decision on the alcohol sales bid was meant to be made during a meeting of the council’s licensing applications sub-committee on Thursday, January 22.
But this meeting will no longer go ahead following the withdrawal of the application.
The sudden change comes as the application was opposed by police and council officers.
Thames Valley Police accused applicant, Jalinder Singh Ahuja, of selling ‘counterfeit vodka’ and avoiding alcohol duty.
A police representation against the application states: “Prior to this application, police can confirm that no contact has been received from the applicant in relation to this application in order to discuss any concerns which we may have had and to determine any information that could have been supplied relating to our advice on local issues.
“In January 2020, a premises owned and operated by the applicant was inspected by Trading Standards.
“The officers uncovered 111.7 litres of non-duty paid spirits and 23.8 litres of counterfeit vodka. The spirits were immediately seized.
“Mr Ahuja’s company was prosecuted after pleading guilty to violations of the Licensing Act, the Trade Marks Act and The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations.”
This objection was echoed by the council’s trading standards department, which listed five ‘failures’ to comply with public protection laws from 2016 to 2020.
In the most recent incident, trading standards officers in London even claimed that a teenager had developed an ‘alcohol problem’ after purchasing drinks illegally.
A representation states: “Trading Standards officers at Hammersmith & Fulham Council received complaints from two nearby schools and the Met Police.
“Two pupils from Year 9 and one from Year 11 allegedly bought spirits from the shop.
“In another report, a group of Year 11 boys were said to be regularly drinking alcohol supplied by the shop. As a result, one boy developed a ‘significant and long-running alcohol problem’ for which he was receiving treatment.
“The shop’s staff were also accused of giving a free bottle of vodka to a boy as a 16th birthday present.
“The reports said that the boys were regularly supplied the illicit alcohol at the back door to avoid detection and had to pay more than the normal price to obtain the spirits.”
This evidence was submitted in publicly available representations against the application, and remains live on the council’s website.
