Local Store Seeks Midnight Alcohol Sales

An off-licence near the Reading Festival site has applied to sell alcohol until midnight. The Premier convenience store by Caversham Bridge, next to The Gorge Cafe, opened in 2023 and is about a 10-minute walk from the main site entrance.

Caversham Road, home to takeaways and shops, becomes particularly busy during the festival as tens of thousands of revellers walk between the train station, town centre and the site.

The Premier is currently open 6am-11pm. The new owner has applied to Reading Borough Council to extend alcohol sales until midnight each night; a statutory consultation is live.

You can respond by emailing licensing@reading.gov.uk. The deadline for responses is Friday, August 4.

If granted, the change would allow the store to sell alcohol until midnight to festival goers as well as regular customers.

The building was previously Thames Valley Printers & Cartridges Ltd, which closed by April 2023. It was turned into a convenience store by Nimal & Sons later that year and sold to a new owner around a year ago. Attempts have been made to contact the current owner about the application.

James Aldridge, Local Democracy Reporter