A shop in west London has had its licence suspended for six weeks following the latest in a series of breaches that included selling alcohol over strict local strength limits, and stocking illicit vapes.

Landis, on Uxbridge Road in Southall, will have six weeks to get the business up to scratch and staff trained properly in refusing alcohol sales to minors, after a 15-year-old boy was sold a can of beer.

A refusal log that is meant to show when underage sales have been denied bizarrely contained details of customers being refused Christmas cards and strawberries.

The review came before the Ealing Licensing Sub-Committee this month, following a regular inspection in August 2024.

A 15-year-old boy was sold a can of Desperados without being asked for ID.

The can of beer he bought was also above the maximum alcohol content allowed locally, as Ealing has a strict rule in place that bans the sale of beer above 5.6%. Desperados has a strength of 5.9%.

This was the third time in three years that the shop was found in breach of licensing conditions according to the council.

In February 2021, inspectors visited following complaints that the shop had been overcharging patients from Ealing Hospital.

This was not proven, although upon entry, inspectors found alcohol in boxes on the shop floor which is against licensing conditions.

They also found beer which is not sold in the UK that had been purchased from an unregistered wholesaler without paying duty.

The boxes of alcohol on the shop floor breached licensing conditions (credit: Ealing Council).

In August 2022, licensing officers visited the premises to find 142 non-compliant vapes on sale behind the counter.

At the recent hearing, licensing officers sought a total revocation of the licence due to 'the obvious disregard for the law'.

However a short-term suspension was ordered instead.

The Premises License Holder, Mr Singh Grover, told the committee that the member of staff responsible for the sale to the minor had been sacked.

However, another senior employee, Mr Singh Arora, was present at the time of sale and gave the staff member change to hand over to the boy.

He said: "I was there to give the change but I didn't see him. I was reading urgent documents. If I saw him I would have asked for ID, I am very sorry."

Robert Dear, a Licensing Officer at Ealing Council, questioned the two men about their refusal procedures.

Staff are supposed to keep a written record for each time an alcohol sale is refused due to a customer being underage or not having ID.

They told Mr Dear they had a 'no sale' button for when they refused the sale of alcohol.

However, upon further reflection, Mr Dear found that these only started after the sale to the 15-year-old boy.

He also found a number of 'refusals' recorded for items such as Christmas cards and strawberries, suggesting staff did not fully understand what the refusal log was meant for.

Mr Panchal, legal representation for the store, told the committee in summary: "We feel that a short suspension of a week or so would make my clients understand that it is a major issue that will not happen again."

Committee Chair Councillor Gareth Shaw instead said: "A six-week suspension of the licence is proportionate and appropriate to ensure that…steps are taken by the business."

All staff will now have to take refresher licensing training, review all stock to ensure it is compliant with regulations, ensure miniature cans of alcohol are not sold and no boxes of alcohol are stored on the shop floor.

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