AN application to transfer a premises licence at a Polish convenience store in Hereford was refused.

Anita Szporak applied to Herefordshire Council to transfer the premises licence of Mila in Belmont Road to herself from Hardi Mohammed.

The current licence allows the sale of alcohol Monday to Sunday 8am to midnight.

Herefordshire Council's Licensing Committee heard the licence was issued in September 2015 but in December 2016 it was revoked after 250,000 illegal cigarettes were seized from the premises.

A new licence was issue in February 2017 with a number of conditions.

The police objected to the transfer application. Sgt Duncan Reynolds asked for the press and public to be excluded from the meeting as the objection referred to criminal matters affecting the applicant which did not result in a conviction.

The committee agreed that the information would not be in the public interest and the press and public were excluded.

The licensing committee refused the application due to the information provided by the police. As a result the second application for Ms Szporak to become designated premises supervisor no longer applied as this can only be applied for by the licence holder.