Date: 15/07/2009
Magistrates have backed High Peak Borough Council's decision to stop a Hadfield shop selling alcohol after it was caught making sales to under 18s.
Back in April, the council's licensing panel revoked the premises licence of Today's Stores, in Station Road, after trading standards officials from Derbyshire County Council saw alcohol being sold to a young person during a test purchasing operation.
Licence holder Mohammed Bostan appealed to Buxton Magistrates' Court but on Friday 10 July the court upheld the borough council's licence revocation.
The bench said there had been serious failures at the store, and that the only way to deal with the problems was to revoke its licence to sell alcohol.
Earlier, the court had heard from county council trading standards officer Graham Morgan and from Sgt. Jon Lloyd, of Derbyshire Police, who had asked the borough council to review the licence in the first place.
Said John Haken, the borough council's executive councillor for the environment: "The magistrates' court has sent out a clear message that it shares our determination, and that of our partners, to stamp out the sale of alcohol to the under 18s. There's a wealth of evidence that regular drinking at a young age is bad for health and can lead to antisocial behaviour. We expect retailers to support our efforts to keep alcohol away from people who are too young to handle it responsibly.
"Fortunately, the majority of licensees understand their responsibilities but we'll continue to take action against those who don't", he warned.
His words were echoed by Supt. Paul Rouse, head of operations for Buxton Division, Derbyshire Police.
"The revocation of this licence is a good example of partnership working between the police, trading standards and the borough council. The decision has sent a clear message that sales of alcohol to people under 18 will not be tolerated in High Peak", he stressed.