Wolverhampton shop loses licence after illegal cigarettes found - owner disputes other claims

Three Tuns News, on Stafford Road, Wolverhampton, has had its licence revoked by Wolverhampton Council after being found in breach of a number of codes by a licensing sub-committee.

In a hearing, held on Thursday, May 9, premises licence holder, Bimla Devi Banga, appeared before a Wolverhampton Council licensing sub-committee after being found in breach of a number of licensing codes.

The review was called after the store, which also operated under the name Banga Stores, was found to have kept 1,300 illegal cigarettes 'under greetings cards' and around eight illegal oversized vape pens hidden in a draw in the stores tills.

The review also discovered that the licence holder, Ms Banga, didn't know how to operate the CCTV system, which she said "was continuously on" but "didn't know how to rewind it."

In the meeting, which was attended by representatives from West Midlands Police, Trading Standards, Public Health and the licensing authority, the room heard how allegations had been made that tobacco and alcohol products had been sold to youngsters from the store.

The Trading Standards representative said: "In January 2019 we received intelligence that illicit tobacco had been sold at Banga Stores, in July 2020, we received intelligence from West Midlands Police with evidence that the licence holder didn't know how to operate the CCTV systems and that the systems were turned off.