Whisky shop granted licence for Brighton

A whisky shop in Brighton has been granted a liquor licence but cannot stay open as late as it wanted.

The Whisky Shop, owned by a company called Glenkeir Whiskies, wanted a new premises licence for a shop in East Street, Brighton.

It applied for a licence to sell alcohol, primarily Scotch, from 8am to 11pm, seven days a week.

A Brighton and Hove City Council licensing panel was told that the shop was in the “cumulative impact area”.

New licences are not normally granted in the area, which covers much of the centre of Brighton, as the council tries to tackle drink-related problems there by limiting the number of premises selling alcohol.

Peter Savill, a barrister representing Sussex Police, said: “No matter how the application is dressed, this is still at heart an off-licence.”

Inspector Robin Apps said that there were an average of six violent offences a month in East Street alone, most of them drink-related.

He said: “We’ve had to put more police officers in East Street on a Friday and Saturday to combat the problem.”

Panel member Councillor Jeane Lepper asked when most of the problems occurred.

Inspector Apps said 8pm to 1am.

Peter Glazebrook, solicitor for The Whisky Shop, said: “This is not in the popular priced area of the market and is not going to contribute to the problem of crime and disorder.

“The average transaction value is £65.”

Whisky Shop director Nick Ware said that the company already had 17 shops elsewhere in the country and was prepared to close earlier.

Licensing panel chairman Councillor Lizzie Deane said that the shop could operate from 9am to 6.30pm – and 90 per cent of the goods on sale must be whisky.

Invitation-only tasting events can be held on Tuesdays and Wednesdays with no new admissions after 8pm and no sales after 9pm.

Mr Ware said afterwards that, while he was disappointed not to be able to take advantage of late-night shopping evenings, he hoped to be trading before Christmas.