The shop was alleged to have sold products to underage girls who wore “low tops” or exposed their breasts

The premises licence for Fawcett Road Kwiki-Mart, which was alleged to have sold discounted alcohol and vapes to underage girls who wore “low tops” or exposed their breasts, has been revoked.

Portsmouth City Council’s licensing committee has published its decision following a review of the Southsea convenience store at 126 Fawcett Road.

The hearing was held in private “to allow the parties to give evidence freely but that in the public interest this decision should be made public”.

Before the review hearing on July 31, Portsmouth Trading Standards outlined a number of concerns, including allegations that alcohol and vapes were being supplied to underage girls if they were “wearing low tops or exposing their breasts”.

In its decision, the committee listed a series of “events of concern” relating to the premises, including three reports of underage sales made to Trading Standards in March.

On March 18, a vape was sold to a 14-year-old girl. On April 6, a one-litre bottle of vodka and a “BuzzBall” cocktail were sold to a 14-year-old girl.

Four further reports of alleged underage sales were received during April. On April 27, an inspection by the licensing authority and Trading Standards found several licence breaches.

These included the absence of the designated personal licence holder, the failure to produce the premises licence, and the lack of both a refusals register and any record of refused sales.

The committee also found that the age verification policy was incorrectly stated as “Challenge 24”, there was no evidence of refresher training on age verification, staff were unable to access or download CCTV footage, and 11 boxes of single-use disposable vapes were discovered beneath the counter.

Additionally, the committee noted that on May 5, Trading Standards received a report of vape sales suggesting girls were “inappropriately provided with vapes”.

On May 28, the shop failed a police test purchase, resulting in a fixed penalty notice being issued.

The committee also highlighted four unanswered requests for CCTV footage and noted the “proximity of the premises to a school”.

It added there were “reports that children understand they are able to purchase alcohol at the store without ID”, while failures in due diligence dated back to “2020 having led to a formal warning at that stage”.

In its findings, the committee said the licence holder’s conduct demonstrated a “consistent propensity” to breach licensing law and fail to engage with trading standards or the police.

The committee also summarised the licence holder’s submissions, including that they are “a person of good character, is not facing prosecution and holds a personal licence” and understands that selling “alcohol to children is serious”.

It was also told that staff are receiving new training and that a new system has been introduced to flag age-restricted products.

Another argument put forward was that “the flurry of reports is a result of political groups ‘campaigning’ against the shop”.

The licence holder also said “the business is financially suffering significantly due to the review proceedings”.

In its closing remarks, the committee said its remit concerns “promotion of the protection of children from harm engaged by underage sales at the premises is the most relevant licensing concern”.

“That is not to reduce the otherwise serious nature of the allegation. It is simply that this sub committee is not investigating or prosecuting or determining this issue. There has been little to no weight attached to the safeguarding complaint.”

The decision adds that the concerns arose “in a context of a very large number of reported underage sales from many independent sources. Each of the reports and complaints corroborates the others.”

The premises licence has been revoked, permanently removing the shop’s ability to sell alcohol and carry out other licensable activities. The decision can be appealed to a magistrate’s court.