A Wirral shop will be allowed to sell alcohol despite fears about gangs of youths drinking and using drugs in the area.
Park View Convenience Store, on Lingham Lane in Moreton, can now sell booze between 7am and 11pm every day after today’s meeting of Wirral Council’s Licensing Panel approved its plans.
But Richard Harrison, who lives next door to the shop, said there was a lot of anti-social behaviour in the area, including youths drinking and using drugs in Lingham Park and driving around the area on motorbikes which he believed were stolen.
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Given the area was “fraught with problems”, Mr Harrison said it did not need another shop selling alcohol.
He said that he had no problem with the applicant, Hidhayadul Nooria Mohamed Hasan, wanting to open a shop, but he did not think alcohol should be sold there.
Gill Sherratt, who represented the applicant, said he was an experienced premises manager and his presence would provide more eyes and ears in the area to reduce any problems.
Ms Sherratt said she accepted Mr Harrison’s experiences, but added that if the police had concerns about the shop selling alcohol they would have raised them and they had not.
She noted that the shop had CCTV and said there are no problems with youths buying alcohol in places where they cannot buy it, saying that the shop would not sell alcohol to people who were underage.
Ms Sherratt also made the point that shops such as Park View Convenience Store did need to sell alcohol, adding that it was an “integral” part of the offer and estimating that it would make up around 15% of the shop's sales.
The panel chose to approve the application, with Conservative councillor Andrew Hodson, its chair, saying the panel noted that conditions to prevent alcohol being sold to under 18s and prevent public nuisance had been put in place.
Cllr Hodson also noted that Merseyside Police had not made a representation.
Park View Convenience Store will now be allowed to sell alcohol between 7am and 11pm.
