Vape sale to under-aged buyer puts Greenwich store’s licence at risk

By Joe Coughlan, Local Democracy Reporter

A shop in Greenwich is at risk of losing its licence to sell booze after an employee was found selling a nicotine vape to children.

Greenwich Convenience Store on Woolwich Road is having its licence reviewed by Greenwich council following a test purchase in the East Greenwich shop earlier this year.

Council documents said the shop’s supervisor sold a nicotine vape to two teenage boys on February 9. A council officer claimed the man did not ask the boys, who were 16 and 17 years old, any questions or make any requests for required identification.

The supervisor was interviewed by the authority the following month, when he claimed the shop’s till system did not work properly before the time of the sale. He said he had since installed a new system that would automatically remind staff to verify the age of a customer for restricted items.

He reportedly told the council officer: “Yes, it’s a very big mistake for me. It’s the first and last excuse for me please because this is my first time, this fault. All the time I’m responsible, I’m very thorough but that day I know I made a big mistake so I need [you] please to excuse me.”

The supervisor said he was in the shop most of the time and was ‘shocked’ he did not ask for identification from the children. The council officer also questioned the man on the lack of entries in the shop’s refusals register, to which the individual admitted he was at fault and claimed it was due to him forgetting to write down names at busy times.

Council officers suggested that a set of additional conditions should be imposed on the shop. These included additional staff training on selling alcohol and a functioning CCTV system being in place.

The conditions said: “A refusals log (or equivalent) shall be kept at the premises, and made immediately available on request to the police or an authorised person. The refusals log is to be inspected on a monthly basis by the [shop supervisor] and noted in the log.”

However, the council’s sub-committee has the power to modify the shop’s existing alcohol licence as they see fit, including temporarily suspending the licence or revoking it altogether. The store is currently licensed to sell alcohol from 8am-11pm six days a week and from 10am to 10.30pm on Sundays.

The necessary changes to the licence for Greenwich Convenience Store will be assessed at a council meeting this week.

Pictured top: Greenwich Convenience Store in Woolwich Road (Picture: Google Street View)