Tooting shop that sold booze and vapes to kids loses licence
By Charlotte Lillywhite, Local Democracy Reporter
A shop which allegedly sold booze and vapes to underage kids has lost its licence.
One mum claimed her 13-year-old daughter had been sold two vapes from Worldwide Superstore & Off Licence in Tooting while in school uniform.
Wandsworth Council Trading Standards has received four complaints about the shop in Mitcham Road since December 2021 and one intelligence report alleging the sale of age-restricted products such as booze and vapes to underage kids, including when in school uniform, according to a council report.
The report said: “Trading Standards carried out observations of the premises that indicated illegal sales may be taking place. Subsequently four test purchases were made, resulting in two sales to individuals aged under 18. One sale was of a vape, the second was of alcohol.”
Two of the test purchases did not result in underage sales.
One mum claimed to the council: “Earlier this year my daughter (13 years old) was sold two vape sticks, at different times in the same week whilst in school uniform. No ID was asked of her.”
John Hillarby, chief trading standards officer at the council, said officers had seen young people entering in pairs and leaving with what was suspected to be bottled and canned alcoholic drinks, but they “couldn’t actually see inside those bags”.
He told the council’s licensing committee on January 25 that Trading Standards had visited with a licensing officer and several “licence conditions were found not to be complied with”.
Shop manager Anu Singh Sachdeva, representing the licence holder, said there was not enough evidence provided with the claim the shop had sold vapes to a 13-year-old girl.
Mr Sachdeva, who manages the business on behalf of his father, said another complaint only referred to a shop in Tooting and there are many that sell alcohol and vapes locally.
He said the shop had passed other test purchases, adding: “I was sent a list of all the test purchases and I can see that I had a lot of test purchases that were passed as well, which a lot of them weren’t mentioned.”
Mr Sachdeva said the shop sells many products including soft drinks, which could have been in the bags officers saw kids carrying.
The decision will not come into force until the end of the 21-day period given for appealing the decision, or until the appeal is disposed of if it is made.
Pictured top: World Super Store & Off Licence, Mitcham Road, Tooting (Picture: Google Earth)