A HEREFORD shop close to the city’s colleges has had its licence revoked after it sold alcohol and tobacco to children.

Herefordshire Council's regulatory sub-committee said the revocation of the licence of Hereford Express, on Folly Lane, was an ‘appropriate and proportionate’ measure, taking into account the circumstances of the incident.

The committee heard that on October 25 2016, a Trading Standards operation was carried out and two underage volunteers were sold tobacco and alcohol by a member of staff who, when interviewed, appeared not to have had full training.

Leah Wilson, for Trading Standards, told the committee that following the incident, the Designated Premises Supervisor (DPS) and premises licence holder, Sivatharsini Somasundaram, was given advice about how to manage and put in place conditions but it was felt she had not properly understood.

The committee heard that Ms Somasundaram visited only three or four times a week. The person who usually ran the store, who was not a premises licence holder, had not been there at the time of the incident.

In their application for a licence review, Trading Standards requested that staff should be trained by a professional body, there should be a written or electronic refusals register and a Challenge 30 policy.

They also wanted a personal licence holder in place at all times and for CCTV footage to be checked once a week by the DPS.

There was no representative from the shop at Monday's hearing, despite several notifications having been sent in advance.

Sergeant Duncan Reynolds, from West Mercia Police, said officers were not involved in the operation but when they went to issue the member of staff responsible for the sale with a fixed penalty notice, he had left and no one knew where he had gone.

Police had carried out appropriate checks, including with UK Border Agency, who had no record of the individual.

The committee said they considered the sale of alcohol and tobacco to children to be 'very serious' and, considering the circumstances, including the failure to adhere to existing conditions and the proximity of the shop to educational establishments, it was appropriate and proportionate to revoke the licence.

The revocation will take effect after an appeal period of 21 days.