Decision

Notification of decision following a Licensing Panel hearing to determine an application for the grant of a Premises Licence under section 17 of the Licensing Act 2003

PREMISES:   Tesco Express, 106-110 Whitton Road, Hounslow, TW3 2ES

APPLICANT:  Tesco Stores Limited (Company number 00519500)

TAKE NOTICE THAT on 16th September 2026following a hearing before the Licensing and General Purposes Sub Committee (the “Licensing Panel” or “Panel”),

HOUNSLOW COUNCIL, as the Licensing Authority for the Premises RESOLVED as follows:

Decision

To grant with amendments, the application for a new Premises Licence for Tesco Express, 106-110 Whitton Road, Hounslow, TW3 2ES as follows:

Supply of alcohol for consumption off the premises

Monday to Saturday:  09:00 to 22:00

Sunday:  10:00 to 22:00

Hours of opening

Monday to Sunday: 06:00 to 00:00

Conditions:

1. The Premises shallinstall andmaintain a comprehensive CCTV system asper the minimum requirements of the Home Office. All entry and exit points will be covered enabling frontal identificationof every person entering in any light condition. The CCTV system shall continually record whilst the Premises is open for licensable activities and during all times when customers remain on thepremises. All recordings shall be stored fora minimum periodof 31 days with date and time stamping.
2. Astaff member fromthe Premiseswho isconversant with theoperation of theCCTV system shall be on the Premises at all times when the Premises are open. This staff member must beable to assist the Police orauthorised council officer in obtaining copies of recent CCTV images ordata within 48 hours but with the absolute minimum of delay when requested.
3. Appropriatesignage will bedisplayed, in a prominent position, informing customers they arebeing recorded on CCTV.
4. Allstaff responsible for selling alcoholshall receive regulartraining inthe Licensing Act2003.  Written records of thistraining shall be retained and made available to Police andCouncil officers on request.
5. Notices shall be prominently displayed at all exits requesting patrons to leave the area quietly.
6. AChallenge 25 proofof agescheme shallbe operatedat the Premises where theonly acceptable forms ofidentification are recognisedphotographic identificationcards, such asa drivinglicence, passport or proof ofage card withthe PASS(Proof of Age Standards Scheme) Hologram.
7. Posters shallbe displayedin prominent positionsaround the tilladvising customers of theProof of Age policy in force at the Premises.
8. An incident log(which may beelectronic) shall be maintained withentries being made available to officers of theresponsible authorities on request.Instances of disorder,ejections or similar will be recorded.
9. No sales of single cans or bottles ofbeer, lager or cider shall be sold. For theavoidance of doubt, this does notinclude specialist products from craft ormicrobreweries orlimited edition or seasonal products (e.g. Christmas gift packs).
10. Nominiature bottles of spirits of 20 cl or belowshall be sold from the premises. Please note this doesnot apply topremium products, boxed giftsand seasonalpacks forexample pre-packaged gift packs which may contain a spirit miniature
11. The Premises will not sellany beer, lager, or cider that is equal to or greater than 6% ABV. For the avoidance ofdoubt, this does notinclude specialist products from craftor microbreweries or limited edition/ seasonal products (e.g. Christmas gift packs), subject to Police and Local Authority discretion.
12. Therewill be atleast one person onduty at all times that the Premises areopen and selling alcohol authorised by the Premises' Designated Premises Supervisor tosell alcohol.
13. Allsales ofalcohol shallbe insealed containersonly.

Reasons

1. The Panel convened in person to determine an application from the Applicant for a Premises Licence for the Premises under the Licensing Act 2003.   The Premises are a Tesco Express store, which is yet to open, that is located in an area of mixed residential and commercial propertiesand also located in the Hounslow Town Centre Cumulative Impact Area (the “CIA”).
2. The application originally sought a licence for the supply of alcohol for consumption off the Premises between the hours of 06:00 to 00:00 Monday to Sunday, (mirroring their proposed opening hours), and for the provision of late night refreshment between 23:00 to 00:00 Monday to Sunday.  The application contained some proposed conditions and did not appear to address the fact the Premises were in the CIA.
3. Following the consultation there were 26 objections from local residents, along with a petition objecting to the application with 23 signatures.  Copies of these representations are shown at Appendix B of the Agenda.  There were no representations from any of the Responsible Authorities.
4. At the hearing the Applicant was represented by Jeremy Bark (Solicitor) and was accompanied by Hardish Purewal (Senior Licensing Manager) and Mohammed Hashim (Store Manager) for the Applicant.  Five of the objectors were also in attendance.
5. At the beginning of the hearing, the Applicant stated they were amending their application in light of the representations received by:

·       reducing the hours sought for the sale of alcohol to 09:00 - 23:00 Monday to Sunday;

·       withdrawing the application for Late Night Refreshment; and

·       offering 13 conditions, which had also been applied to another Tesco Express store located within another Cumulative Impact Area within the Borough.

1. In making its decision, the Panel considered all the relevant information including:

·       Written and Oral representations by all the parties

·       The Licensing Act 2003 and the steps appropriate to promote the licensing objectives

·       The guidance issued under section 182 of the Licensing Act 2003 (the “Statutory Guidance”)

·       Hounslow Council’s Statement of Licensing Policy 2025 (the “Council’s Policy”)

·       The Human Rights Act 1998

1. With the Premises situated within the CIA, the Panel applied the Council's Special Policy, under which relevant representations engage a presumption against the grant of a new Premises Licence unless the circumstances justify departure from that policy.
2. When considering the CIA, the Policy states that good management and the applicant’s track record (whether in respect of the premises in question or another similar premises operated by the Applicant elsewhere), are unlikely by themselves to demonstrate the application will not add to the cumulative impact.  It is the clustering of premises in a particular area, as well as their type, clientele, capacity and operating hours, that can lead to that area becoming ‘saturated’ and this may result in negative impacts on the licensing objectives. The Panel therefore did not rely upon those matters alone and, as per the Policy, considered the application on its own merits.  The Panel also had regard to the evidence underpinning the CIA, which identified street drinking, alcohol-related anti-social behaviour, public nuisance and crime and disorder as continuing concerns within the Hounslow Town Centre area.
3. The Panel noted the representations received against the original application, which raised numerous issues including concerns over the length of licensing hours being sought, street drinking, anti-social behaviour, littering, noise and disturbance from customers using the Premises, general loitering and the fact the Premises are located in the CIA.  The primary concerns raised went towards the prevention of crime and disorder and prevention of public nuisance objectives, although they also included issues regarding public safety and the protection of children from harm. The representations, many of which were similar in nature, generally sought that the application, as originally presented, to be rejected in its original guise and/or that if a licence was granted that this restricted the hours in which alcohol could be sold and included appropriate conditions to address their concerns.  This sentiment was repeated by the objectors present at the hearing, who felt that alcohol sales should not continue beyond 22:00 for the reasons already given.
4. The Panel noted the Applicant’s explanation of how the Premises and other Tesco Express stores operated generally, including an explanation of how the stores were monitored via a central Hub, their use of fixed and moveable CCTV cameras, body cameras and staff headsets.  Risk assessments are carried out for their stores with security needs, including whether security staff are required, dealt with in a dynamic manner.  The Panel was also informed on how their store tills were programmed with their Challenge/Think 25 challenge procedure and how differences in opening hours and licensing hours were also programmed into the tills, thereby preventing sales after the end of licensing hours. They did not sell single cans of beer, lager or cider, aside from craft products, or spirit miniatures at their Tesco Express stores, and the Applicant explained where they intended to place the displays of alcohol products in the Premises. 
5. The Panel considered the additional conditions offered by the Applicant, which even though were copied over from another Tesco Express store in another CIA area in the borough, still had to be considered for suitability for the Premises.   The offered conditions strengthened the provisions around CCTV, notices and training, whilst also restricting sales of spirit miniatures (20 cl or below), and single cans of beer, lager and cider as well as high strength versions of the same (6% ABV and above), with certain exemptions for seasonal products, gift items and craft products.
6. There were also discussions about what the Applicant could do about rough sleepers and/or people loitering in close proximity to the Premises, and the Applicant stated that whilst they had limited powers to act by themselves where those issues occurred on the public highway, at stores in other locations they had sought to address these issues by working alongside other organisations to tackle such problems from multiple angles.
7. In determining this application, the Panel considered that the conditions offered along with the withdrawal of the application for late night refreshment went a considerable way towards addressing those concerns around the prevention of crime and disorder, public nuisance, public safety and the protection of children.
8. Whilst the Applicant was willing to reduce its proposed licensing hours to 09:00 to 23:00 Monday to Sunday, in light of the fact the Premises are in the CIA and upon consideration of the residents’ concerns around late evening alcohol sales, the Panel was of the view that a further reduction in the licensing hours to 22:00 Monday to Sunday was proportionate in order to promote the licensing objectives within the CIA by further reducing the risk of late night street drinking, ASB, noise and disturbance as well as alcohol-related nuisance and crime and disorder.  An amendment to the commencement of licensing hours to 10:00 on Sundays would further reduce the risk of alcohol-related issues and disturbance on Sunday mornings and bring the start time in line with the Sunday core hours start time in the Policy.  The Panel considered that making those changes to the licensing hours would justify a departure from the presumption against granting a licence application for premises within the CIA where relevant representations were received.  Accordingly, the Panel’s decision was that the licensing hours for the supply of alcohol off the premises should be further restricted to 09:00 to 22:00 Monday to Saturday and 10:00 to 22:00 on Sunday.
9. The Panel therefore decided to grant this application as amended with the reduced licensing hours for the supply of alcohol off the premises as set out above, and with the additional 13 licence conditions submitted by the Applicant at the hearing.

Right to Appeal

1. Any partyaggrieved with the decision of the Licensing Panel on one or more grounds set out in schedule 5 of Licensing Act 2003 may appeal to the local Magistrates’ Court within 21 days of notification of this decision.