Alcohol Licence Bid for Brecon Store Rejected

A decision has been reached on a fresh bid to sell alcohol at Brecon Stores, a convenience shop on The Parade, Brecon Road in Woodley.

Owner Kubil Singh Kapoor got into trouble after allegations that vodka was sold to a 12-year-old and alcohol to a 14-year-old. Councillors on Wokingham Borough Council's licensing and appeals hearing sub-committee revoked the store's licence in May last year.

Mr Kapoor planned to appeal but withdrew the appeal the day before a hearing last month and the ban on alcohol sales then came into effect. He also admitted to the sale and possession of counterfeit and unsafe alcohol, pleaded guilty and was hit with a total financial penalty of £9,029.

Another businessman, Vivek Bohara, applied to take over the shop and sell alcohol from 7am to 11pm daily. There was some confusion about his current work in IT and his previous experience managing IndusFresh at the Loddon Vale Centre.

Mr Bohara said: "I work for Deloitte, I am an IT consultant, and I want to get into the business also. "I'm still working 9am to 5pm and I managed to run the store with staff as well. "The staff know me because I've been going there to return parcels, and I know Mr Kapoor as well, I've been going there since 2019."

He agreed to buy Brecon Stores for £40,000, paying an initial sum of £15,000 if the licence was approved.

The application faced objections from the council's licensing team and Thames Valley Police. Licensing legal adviser Rachel Lucas said there is currently no 'Challenge 25' age verification policy at the store and argued staff have not had sufficient training. She said: "We have no confidence that granting this application would result in responsible or lawful alcohol sales."

Mr Bohara had agreed to introduce a Challenge 25 policy, install CCTV and provide staff training if granted the licence.

Representing him, Manpreet Kapoor told councillors: "The decision should not be based on the previous mistakes of the previous license holder. "Yes, we understand Mr Kapoor has been the property owner and premises owner till now, but if the licence was granted then that would change. "We have proposed conditions and offerings to address the concerns of the responsible authorities. "Mr Bohara does have a nine-to-five job, he is an IT consultant, he would not want to be involved in any criminal offences or anything that would then harm his current job as well. "So he wouldn't want to disrespect the license objectives. He would want to uphold them to his best and make sure that he remains compliant because it wouldn't only affect his business, but it would also affect his job if anything was to go wrong."

Ultimately, the licensing and appeals hearing sub-committee rejected the application on 3 March. The decision was made by councillors Pauline Jorgensen (Conservative, Hillside), Kay Gilder (Conservative, South Lake) and Jackie Rance (Conservative, Shinfield).

James Aldridge, Local Democracy Reporter