A shop in Torquay has had its premises licence to sell alcohol revoked.
Devon and Cornwall Police applied for the licence review due to a number of problems which included the storing of smuggled tobacco and alcohol at the premises.
The licence of Zakopane in Market Street was revoked at Torbay Council’s licensing sub-committee on Wednesday 30 January following evidence given by Devon, Somerset and Torbay Trading Standards Service and Devon and Cornwall Police. Representations were also made at the hearing by Public Health.
The hearing followed a raid in September 2018 carried out by HMRC and assisted by Devon, Somerset and Torbay Trading Standards Service. Using specially trained search dogs officers uncovered a concealed room in the upstairs stockroom.
Officers found a huge amount of illicit tobacco and alcohol, in which the duty was unpaid and the goods were seized by HMRC.
In total 478,120 cigarettes (an estimated 23,000 packets of 20 cigarettes), 137kg of hand rolling tobacco and 181.3 litres of vodka were seized from the premises.
Jay Capel, from Devon, Somerset and Trading Standards Service, said: “This result is an example of several agencies, the HMRC, Devon and Cornwall Police and Devon, Somerset and Torbay Trading Standards, successfully working together.”
“This was the biggest seizure of its kind I have seen in my 18-year career.”
To read the original press release from Devon, Somerset, and Torbay Trading Standards please click the following link.
https://www.devonsomersettradingstandards.gov.uk/shop-has-licence-to-sell-alcohol-revoked-following-evidence-from-trading-standards/