A mini grocery store in Stoke-on-Trent has been refused permission to sell alcohol to customers after Trading Standards officers found counterfeit cigarettes and illegal vapes for sale.

A tobacco industry representative was sold a Richmond-branded packet of cigarettes from under the counter for £5, as well as a disposable vape with a stated tank size of 14ml – well above the UK legal limit of 2ml – on another occasion in October at Friends Grocery and Hardware in Cobridge.

Business director Dhihana Nasumudeen applied for a premises licence for the Waterloo Road store to enable it to sell alcohol from 9am to 11pm seven days a week. She took on Friends Hardware and Tools Uk Limited in August and has changed the business to include food, drinks and tobacco sales.

In November a Fair Trading Officer from Stoke-on-Trent City Council was sold a packet of Richmond-branded cigarettes for £5 from under the counter by a male shop worker. And a week later a Trading Standards Officer found 34 non-compliant vapes for sale at the premises, as well as a packet of "blue Richmond cigarettes which fully branded but not in the required UK standardised packaging", a report to Stoke-on-Trent City Council's licensing sub-committee said.

In November, Tradings Standards officers found counterfeit cigarettes and illegal vapes for sale at the shop (Google).

The report added: "These items were seized. Further inspection of the store found compliant cigarette products on open display against legal requirements not to have them on display.

"The store also did not have as legally required an age restricted tobacco notice displayed. They confirmed they did not operate an age restricted sales policy for tobacco products."

Trading Standards objected to the premises licence application on the grounds it undermined the licensing objective of preventing crime and disorder. The objection stated: "The Trading Standards Service questions the applicant's suitability to take on a Premise Licence."

In an email to the council Ms Nasumudeen detailed a number of changes that had been made in the store following the Trading Standards visits however. She said: "All tobacco products that were previously visible to customers have been promptly removed from the shelves.

"A conspicuous notice indicating the legal age for purchasing tobacco products has been prominently displayed to inform customers of the legal requirements. I would like to confirm that all activities deemed illegal by the Trading Standards team have been halted."

In the premises licence application form Ms Nasumudeen also gave details of measures to prevent crime and disorder, including staff training on licensing objectives and preventing under-age sales, CCTV coverage and reporting incidents of a criminal nature to police.

But members of the council's licensing sub-committee, which met on Tuesday (January 9) to consider the application, refused to grant the premises licence and said that the reason for the decision would be sent to Ms Nasumudeen at a later date.

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