A shop in Ormskirk is at risk of losing its licence due to claims that it sold fake cigarettes and allowed children to purchase alcohol.
Trading Standards also accuses Ormskirk Superstore, located on Aughton Street, of selling tobacco and nicotine products to underage customers.
Additionally, members of the public claim that underage teenagers in school uniforms have been sold vaping products regularly.
READ MORE: Suspect named in driveway attack that almost killed man over his £60,000 watch
The shop could now lose its licence to sell age restricted products, reports LancsLive.
As part of its investigation, Trading Standards sent 14 and 15-year-old volunteers to purchase age-restricted products on two occasions. The sales were carried out twice.
An application for a review of the shop’s licence has now been lodged with West Lancashire Borough Council.
According to a report submitted by Sam McConnell of Lancashire County Council Trading Standards Service, the shop and its licence holder Farhad Salehi are failing to observe the licensing objective of the protection of children from harm.
He wrote: “The Trading Standards Service has received a number of complaints in relation to underage sales and the supply of illicit tobacco from this shop. A packet of counterfeit Mayfair cigarettes was purchased by a 15 year old test purchaser on 9th August 2021, and 78 illicit tobacco products subsequently seized by Trading Standards on the same day.
“Despite this enforcement visit, Trading Standards have continued to receive complaints alleging underage sales and the sale of illicit tobacco. A test purchase of ecigarettes was attempted on 22nd December 2021. The 14 year old test purchaser was sold two ‘Geek Bars’ containing nicotine.”
Ormskirk ’s Knowsley Ward Cllr Gareth Dowling, portfolio holder for Communities and Community Safety, is supporting the review and said he has received complaints from residents about the shop.
In his own submission to the review, he said the repeated and serious nature of the alleged offences left no option but to remove the licence for any restricted products.
He said that the shop had been a “welcome addition” to the town centre but the council had been left with little choice.
Mr McConnell’s report gives more examples of Trading Standards’s involvement with the shop and its alleged breaches of its licence.
These include a complaint from a member of the public in March 2021 that “the shop had cannabis images and cannabis paraphernalia including bongs and grinders displayed in the window”; an anonymous complaint in June that it was selling cheap illegal tobacco from under the counter; and another soon after about the sale of “cheap cigarettes”.
That week, Cllr Dowling reported the sale of alcohol to underage customers and in August the first test purchase was carried out and failed by the shop, leading to the seizure of 78 illicit tobacco products discovered behind the counter.
According to the report, “these products, along with the test purchased Mayfair cigarettes, have since been examined and the majority have been confirmed as counterfeit by the tobacco company brand representatives.”
The cigarettes were also not being sold in plain packaging and did not display the required health warnings. An investigation is ongoing.
In October, a member of the public reported that “their 14 year old son and his friends were regularly sold vaping products even when in school uniform” and another complaint about underage sales was registered in December.
The second test purchase was failed by the shop later that month when a 14 year old was sold two nicotine products and the review request was submitted later that day.
Cllr Dowling said: “The list of breaches of the law and licensing conditions by Ormskirk Superstore is unforgivable and I am grateful to LCC Trading Standards for submitting this application for the review of their premises licence.
“Trading Standards have undertaken multiple visits including to educate the shop and take enforcement action but they appear to have continued to flagrantly disregard the law and conditions and so I have given my full support for the review and their recommendations.
“The review will be heard before West Lancashire Borough Council’s Licensing Committee and they are being encouraged to consider revocation of the relevant premises licence for Ormskirk Superstore.
“Cancelling the shop’s licence is being encouraged as in the opinion of Lancashire County Council Trading Standards Service, the information presented in the application is clear evidence that the Prevention of Crime and Disorder and the Protection of Children from Harm Licensing Objectives have been disregarded at these premises.”
The deadline for representations is February 2.
LancsLive attempted to contact Mr Salehi for comment but did not receive a response before publication.
Receive newsletters with the latest news, sport and what's on updates from the Liverpool ECHO by signing up here
