The Licensing Sub-Committee of North Northamptonshire Council met to consider two applications. The first, an application to review the premises license of Rutland Convenience Store, 25 High Street, Raunds, was approved, subject to conditions. The second, an application for the grant of a new premises license to Pasha Shawarma, 16 High Street, Rushden, was also approved, subject to conditions.

Rutland Convenience Store, Raunds

The Sub-Committee heard an application from Northamptonshire Police to review the premises license of Rutland Convenience Store, 25 High Street, Raunds.

The application for review followed an incident on 17 March 2023 when police officers from the Raunds Neighbourhood Policing Team visited the shop. During that visit, Trading Standards officers discovered a quantity of illegal cigarettes were being offered for sale. This discovery led to a prosecution by Northamptonshire County Council Trading Standards team.

PC David Lee from Northamptonshire Police licensing team told the committee:

This is the second time in under 12 months that this premises has been found to be involved in the sale of illicit tobacco products.

The previous incident he referred to occurred in June 2022. On that occasion Trading Standards officers purchased illegal cigarettes from the shop.

The Sub-Committee also heard from Mr. Mohammed, the licence holder and Designated Premises Supervisor¹ at Rutland Convenience Store. Mr Mohammed told the committee that he had been on holiday at the time of the incident, and that a family member had been looking after the shop. He explained that this family member had been approached by a man who had asked to sell him some cigarettes, which he had then put under the counter. Mr Mohammed said he was very sorry for what had happened, and that he would not allow it to happen again.

The Sub-Committee retired to consider the evidence and decided to modify the conditions of the licence. This means that Rutland Convenience Store will be allowed to continue trading, but with new restrictions on its licence. The new conditions include:

• The installation of a CCTV system to a standard agreed by Northamptonshire Police
• The maintenance of a refusals book
• Staff training to be provided to all staff who sell age restricted products.

Pasha Shawarma, Rushden

The Sub-Committee considered an application for a new premises licence for Pasha Shawarma, 16 High Street, Rushden.

The application, from Mr Alan Forghan, sought permission for the supply of late night refreshment² between the hours of 23:00 and 02:00, seven days a week.

There were no objections to the application from any responsible authorities or members of the public.

After a short discussion the Sub-Committee decided to approve the application, subject to conditions. These conditions included:

• The installation and maintenance of a CCTV system to a standard agreed by Northamptonshire Police.
• All entry and exit doors and windows shall be closed after 23:00 hours each day whilst the premises are open to the public.
• No noise shall emanate from the premises so as to cause a nuisance to nearby residents.