A HEREFORD shop – whose proprietor was handed a 12-week suspended sentence last month after his illicit tobacco business was uncovered by police – has been granted a new licence.

The decision yesterday to allow Zabka Convenience Store a licence, subject to several conditions, has left the council at odds with both police and Trading Standards, who opposed the application.

Kursheed Kadir was sentenced in November after police discovered an elaborate operation at the Eign Gate store which utilised a wireless doorbell to alert staff upstairs so that they could move the stash of illicit tobacco onto a nearby roof.

It was the second time a police operation had uncovered the sale of illicit tobacco on the premises.

However at a licensing hearing on Monday, Karem Salh was granted an alcohol licence for Zabka.

The Walsall man will, however, have to prove that he is solely responsible for the running of the venue – and if that is the case, conditions will be applied to the licence by the regulatory committee.

Jim Mooney, the city’s police licensing and harm reduction coordinator, said: “West Mercia Police are disappointed that the committee granted the licence to sell alcohol despite the history of the venue and the fact that only recently the council had a successful prosecution against the operators.

“Its history indicates that once illegal tobacco is found and the owner prosecuted, they are replaced by another, who is again caught and so it becomes a vicious circle of criminality.”

Illicit tobacco – often with foreign labelling – sells for as little £2.50 but undergoes “dubious” quality control, Mike Piegrim, the county’s head of Trading Standards, said.

And it is an issue that authorities in the Herefordshire have cracked down on this year – in February three raids produced a haul of 100,000 cigarettes and 8.5kg if rolling tobacco that would have had a street value of around £17,000.

Mr Mooney said: “The sale of illegal tobacco impacts on the health of the public and further impacts on the legitimate operators in the county who obtain their supplies from reputable suppliers.

“Those operators who continue to act in this unlawful manner will be subject investigation and potential prosecution by the police and Trading Standards.”