Newham off licence told it can't sell booze 24/7 after street drinkers found guzzling whiskey in alley

An East London off licence that wanted to sell alcohol for 24 hours every day of the week has had the plans rejected by the council. Vel Murugan Enterprises, which is referred to as 6 Station Parade in council documents and is of the same address in East Ham, Newham had the plans rejected by the council last Wednesday (April 24).

The shop had submitted an application to vary its current licence so it could stay open for 24 hours a day, every day and sell booze for the same amount of time. The shop is currently open from 8am until midnight every day but was looking to sell late night refreshment throughout the night from 11pm to 5am.

According to council documents, the owner of the shop wanted to remove a current condition in the licence so the shop could sell spirits in bottles less than 35cl. During last week's meeting, the council's licensing sub-committee heard from enforcement licensing officer, Steve Jackson, who said his team was rejecting the application because of antisocial behaviour [ASB] concerns.

READ MORE: We Are Festival London cancelled by council due to 'health and safety concerns' at Dagenham park

Mr Jackson said: "The council's licensing team, along with the police and environmental health teams, have worked very hard to eradicate ASB activities occurring in this area. Having the premises provide the off sale [of alcohol] for 24 hours a day and amending the current conditions in relation to spirits could result in a further increase to these antisocial activities and street drinking."

On March 18, 2024 at 2.30pm, Mr Jackson was inspecting the area around the shop, which he said licensing enforcement does whenever there's a new licensing application or a variation licence application. Mr Jackson said: "...there was no bottles outside the premises however in Plashet Grove in the alleyway next to the school; I came across two male street drinkers who were drinking Budweiser and were pouring whiskey into cups."

He said he asked the two men where they bought the alcohol from and was told it was from an off licence opposite East Ham Underground station, which he claims was Vel Murugan Enterprises, also referred to as 6 Station Parade in council documents. Mr Jackson believed the alcohol they were drinking was from the shop because there is only one premises on the parade that was opposite the station.

Ian McConnell, a public protection officer at the council, said: "I am concerned that the sale of miniatures will make the premises more attractive to street drinkers and lead to an increase in street drinking, littering, public urination and other ASB." In response to Mr Jackson's concerns, Shobika Mayurathan, who was the applicant, said she was unsure if the two men had bought the alcohol from her shop as they didn't sell the cups they were drinking from.

She went on to say that the incident was out of the shop's control as the men weren't drinking directly outside the shop. Mrs Mayurathan said the shop refuses to sell alcohol to people drinking outside or in the streets and staff record any refusals for the sale of alcohol in a refusal book.

After hearing from the officers and Mrs Mayurathan, the licensing sub-committee adjourned the meeting briefly so they could make their decision, which resulted in the refusal of the application. The reasons for refusing the shop's application have not yet been made public, but will be published and uploaded onto the council's website soon.

Don't miss out on the biggest East London news. Sign up to our MyEastLondon newsletter HERE for all the latest daily news and more.