Shop can sell alcohol despite 'yob' objections

A corner shop has been given permission to sell alcohol despite claims it will be a boon to village "yobs".

The new convenience store in Hextable, near Swanley was subject to a petition by another local business which had collected more than 300 signatures calling for the licencing bid to be blocked, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Sevenoaks District Council (SDC) received an application from Sutharsan Arunthavarasa to sell alcohol out of Malyon's House, a disused property on College Road.

Seeking to open the derelict building as a Malyon's Superstore, he asked the authority for a licence to sell alcohol from 06:00 GMT until 23:00 GMT.

The bid received a slew of objections – with 38 letters sent to the licensing team, and a petition started by Ajnoop Pal Singh Purewal, owner of the nearby Best One convenience store, garnering 306 signatures.

Councillors, the business and residents met at a meeting of SDC's licensing sub-committee on November 28 to hash out the details.

Gill Sherratt, of consultancy Licensing Matters, told the committee on behalf of Mr Arunthavarasa he would be investing "about £100,000" in the premises, and hiring staff locally.

Villager Christine Cownley told the sub-committee: "Why do we need more alcohol? It makes the whole village sound like we are all drunks.

"There's already plenty of alcohol being sold, it does cause a problem with the shops already there, yobs hanging around there holding it, they ask other people to buy it and then they stand outside on the walls and cause damage."

SDC's licensing sub-committee decided to approve the licence as requested.

Chairman Alan Leaman said: "We support the installation of CCTV both inside and outside the premises which is currently vacant and a possible site for antisocial behaviour."

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