Wolverhampton shop's licence to be reviewed after 1,200 illegal cigarettes found

Three Tuns News, on Stafford Street, Wolverhampton, is set to have its trading licence reviewed by Wolverhampton Council on Thursday after failing a test exercise by Trading Standards.

The test trading exercise, which took place around the date of March 14, saw investigators search the premises for illegal and prohibited items, quickly finding a range of illicit tobacco products, including large vape pens.

During the inspection exercise, trading standards officers discovered 1,200 illegal cigarettes, nine pouches of hand-rolling tobacco and 12 oversized vape pens concealed in the store.

In the application for a licence review, Trading Standards investigator, Gurdip Gill, wrote: "Banga Stores (Three Tuns News) was included as part of an inspection exercise by Trading Standards on March 14, 2024.

"During the inspection, Trading Standards officers found 1,200 illegal cigarettes, nine pouches of hand-rolling tobacco, and 12 oversized vapes concealed in the store.

"Illegal cigarettes and pouches of hand-rolling tobacco were found hidden inside a drawer of the second till on the counter."

In response to the letter, Health Improvement Officers said that public health is a "very serious concern" and that they expect any business "to act responsibly at all times".

Ellina Bawa, Health Improvement Officer for Wolverhampton Council said: "Public Health have a very serious concern regarding the sales of illicit tobacco, illicit vapes and underage sales.

"This is further exacerbated by the fact that there was no statutory licence summary on display and the tobacco gantry was openly displaying tobacco products."

The letter went on to call for a review of the trading licence for the premises, saying that Public Health is "not reassured that the business is operating in adherence to the Licensing Act".

Ellina added: "As a responsible authority, we would expect any business license to sell age-restricted items, to act responsibly at all times and promote the key objectives of the Licensing Act 2003.

"Public Health is not reassured that the business is operating in adherence to the Licensing Act and therefore supports Licensing Authority's requests to review the current licence.

When approached for comment, the owners of the Three Tuns News refused to comment.

The meeting to review the premises licence will be held at Wolverhampton Civic Centre, at 10.30am this Thursday, May 9.