A west London shop was caught selling a vape to a 'clearly underage' 15-year old boy a few years after having been busted buying vodka and cigarettes out the back of a van.

The Southall convenience store has retained its licence however it's been slapped with new conditions by Ealing Council's Licensing Sub-Committee.

The illegal vape sale took place on October 29 last year at Best Foods, at 512-516 Lady Margaret Road in Southall. The staff member, Ms Devi, confirmed she had received some training, and that she knew she couldn't sell vapes, tobacco, or alcohol to drunk or underage people.

Legal representatives for Sujanthini Konalingalm argued against a total revocation of the licence. One of those, Mr Grant, told the committee that Ms Devi was a trainee who had just moved to Southall and had received 'some oral training, but we accept that it was not enough and she made a serious mistake'.

Mr Grant went on to explain that the shop has since taken steps to ensure similar mistakes aren't made again. These include hiring a licensing expert, who had previously worked within local authorities, to train all staff in underage sales.

Since then, Mr Grant says, a private company which ensures Challenge 25 is undertaken, sent a volunteer to Best Foods, and he was successfully asked for ID.

However, Ealing Council Licensing Officer Robert Dear pointed out that this specific volunteer was over 18 and as such staff 'could not have failed'.

Councillor Kim Kaur Nagpal asked Ms Konalingalm how many of her customers are young people, citing the nearby Greenford High School as a potential risk for this happening again. Ms Konalingalm said this was around 10 per cent, but all staff are now trained.

The licensing officers also found 91 'oversized non compliant' vapes. There are strict regulations across the country on the sale of vapes, including the tank size and nicotine strength.

This is not the first time that Best Foods has landed in hot water with licensing authorities. In August 2020, hundreds non-duty paid cigarette packets and 8.4 litres of vodka were found to have been purchased from a non-authorised wholesaler.

Mr Grant told the committee that they had been purchased from a 'white van man' in 2020. Ms Konalingalm said the shop had purchased the illicit vapes found in October 2024 from what they thought to be an authorised wholesaler who they no longer use.

In total over the two visits, in 2020 and 2024, officers seized 860 non-duty paid cigarettes, 17 non-duty paid bottles of Polish vodka, and 91 non-compliant vapes. The unpaid duty amounted to over £880.

The committee believed that after hearing from Ms Konalingalm and her legal team that she understood the severity of the failure and attempts to engage in age verification policy since. Councillors also believed that Best Foods would continue to buy only from authorised wholesalers.

The committee did not revoke the licence and imposed additional conditions. These include staff training on age related sales before being permitted to work on the till, tobacco, vapes and booze only being purchased from authorised wholesalers, and for two trained staff members to be on the premises from 5pm daily.