A NEW premises licence for a Hereford shop has been refused over concerns about the sale of illegal tobacco.

Katarzyna Saleh applied for a licence to sell alcohol between 7am and 11pm every day at Supersam in Eign Street.

Herefordshire Council's licensing sub-committee heard the licence had been revoked in December last year following the sale of non-duty paid and smuggled tobacco.

Tim Thorne, from Trading Standards, said the shop has had its licence revoked twice before for selling illegal cigarettes.

He said: "It has been selling illegal cigarettes perhaps for the last seven years under various ownership."

Mr Thorne said the shop was taken over by the applicant on February 21 this year.

He said Trading Standards carried out three test purchases- two in March and one in April- and she was able to buy non-duty paid cigarettes smuggled in from Poland.

After that date he believed the shop workers realised she was a test purchaser and no more illegal cigarettes were sold to her.

Patrick Burke, representing the applicant, said Mrs Saleh did not move from Wolverhampton to Hereford until March 20, which is when her daughter started school in the county.

He said the description given by the Trading Standards test purchaser does not match the description of anyone who worked in the shop.

Mrs Saleh said her husband and one other member of a staff, a 18-year-old female, worked there. When asked if the female staff member had a connection to the previous owners of the shop, she said no.

But Mr Thorne said he knew who the worker was and that she did work at the shop before, to which Mrs Saleh then agreed.

Mrs Saleh was asked if she wanted to adjourn the meeting to invite an interpreter but she said she understood everything which was being said.

Mr Burke said that he did not understand why the test purchaser did not make themselves known on the third occasion to give the seller an opportunity to be interviewed. He said Mrs Saleh said the cigarettes are not from the shop.

He said: "The representations from from Trading Standards say this shop should never be allowed to sell alcohol again. It is a building. The building itself doesn't have a choice as to what's brought into there or sold in there."

The committee refused to grant a new licence as they believed this would undermine the prevention of crime and disorder. The committee said the evidence of the test purchaser was "more persuasive" and that they had been inconsistencies from the applicant.

Mrs Saleh has the right to appeal the decision.