An appeal by a Cefn Fforest off-licence which was banned from selling alcohol has been dismissed by magistrates.
Cefn Fforest Stores, on Bedwellty Road, had its license to sell alcohol taken away in October last year. This followed an investigation by Trading Standards and Gwent Police that found that alcohol was being sold to underage children.
The licence holder, Simarjot Singh appealed the Caerphilly County Borough Council’s Licensing and Gambling Sub Committee’s decision to revoke the licence, but this appeal was dismissed by Cwmbran Magistrates’ Court when the case was heard last month.
Cllr Nigel George, Cabinet Member with responsibility for Public Protection, said: “These premises has caused problems within the local community for some time, and therefore it’s pleasing that magistrates shared our concerns and dismissed the appeal. We have a duty to ensure that premises which sell age restricted items within our county borough are operating responsibly and within the law, and our investigation with our partners proved that this business, quite clearly, wasn’t.
“We’ll continue to work with licensees to help ensure licensed premises are responsibly run places for customers and the wider community.”
In making their decision to revoke the alcohol licence last October, Committee members heard how the investigation into the premises was carried out as a result of receiving reports that alcohol was being sold to local children. A covert surveillance operation was carried out and it was proven that the premises had indeed sold alcohol to minors.
In August 2015, Mr Singh was convicted in his absence of the sale of alcohol and cigarettes to persons under the age of 18, and was fined £1,600 and ordered to pay costs and other fees totalling £2,198.