A new supermarket in Acton has been granted permission to sell alcohol until 11pm at night despite local concerns about anti-social behaviour.

B&M opened a new store in The Oaks shopping centre on October 24. Previously occupied by Poundland, the unit underwent a comprehensive internal and external refurbishment ahead of the official opening.

On Wednesday (November 3) councillors on Ealing Council's licensing subcommittee decided to grant a licence to sell booze in the store until 11pm. However, B&M says it does not intend to operate past 9pm, and 10pm during the festive period.

The 12 minute meeting was attended by a local resident living in the flats above the store. Alice Driver told the committee that she was concerned that the late sale of alcohol may exacerbate a problem of street drinking and drug use in the area.

Whilst accepting that the issues existed before B&M moved in to the unit, Alice says she is worried about the impact of another shop selling alcohol in the vicinity. She said: "There's drug activity going on we see it on a daily basis.

"We see things on the floor, you can see them at night, the people, even in the day and it's just around that area." When asked by councillors if she had reported this to the police, Alice, a lifelong Acton resident, told the committee she has only lived in the block for eight months, and hadn't notified the police, but believes her neighbours had.

However, she said that she did contact the council about these issues, although she received no response from the local authority. She added: "I do sometimes see the police in my area inspecting because… there's a graveyard at the back of us and that's where all of the men, people sort of sit, stand around…

"I think there was an ongoing issue before we'd moved in. I think they've had a few issues with drug dealing and things like that but I think that that'd be on record…

advertisement

"It's just if it were if it opened till 11:00, will there be people then you know around the area? And, we can hear them, we're just above the store basically… so we're just like would we hear them, if people were going there buying alcohol and whatnot, will it just create more of a like a community for these people?"

B&M did not send a representative to the meeting, however councillors assured Alice that the supermarket will be fitted with CCTV and will have a security guard if needed. The store will operate until 9pm for most of the year, however it does have a licence to operate until 11pm.

Returning the decision, Cllr Rima Baaklini said: "We acknowledge Miss Driver's concerns about existing anti-social behaviour and the possibility of later alcohol sales making matters worse. We note her clarification that the existing problems are not attributable to B&M and are wider matters for the council to address.

"Her concern about the hours nevertheless remains. Having considered the store's retail operation and safeguards – including CCTV, staff training, Challenge 25, and measures to discourage loitering – we consider the conditions sufficient to promote the licensing objectives.

"The evidence does not justify additional conditions or reduced hours. We have considered the special policy area location and early hours outside the council's core hours, but find the application acceptable on its individual merits."