Neighbouring shops stripped of licences over illegal activity

Two neighbouring shops in Liverpool have had their alcohol licences revoked for selling illegal vapes and tobacco including to children, selling Viagra and employing a failed asylum seeker.

L6 Local Store and Park Food Store & Off Licence, separated by one other business on West Derby Road in Tuebrook, had already been hit with closure orders last month.

Both shops, owned by different people, had ignored warnings to stop by Liverpool Council's public protection team.

But thousands of illegal cigarettes were discovered stashed in specially designed hides at both premises in July, followed by an immigration raid at Park Food Store in August.

Councillor Harry Doyle, cabinet member for health, wellbeing and culture said: "These shops repeatedly chose to break the law, despite being warned and given opportunities to put things right."

A report to Liverpool's licensing sub-committee revealed Park Food Store had been raided by Home Office Immigration Enforcement on 11 August after a tip-off it was employing Mehran Karimi, a failed asylum seeker.

The Home Office said when officers arrived Karimi, who was carrying a brown backpack and a black bag, climbed over a wall at the rear of the shop before running down an alleyway.

He stopped when confronted by officers and the contents of the bags, which were redacted in the report, were referred to Trading Standards officials.

Checks revealed Karimi had entered the UK on a small boat on 24 January 2024 and had made an asylum claim which was rejected last year.

The Home Office report said he is awaiting the result of an appeal but had no right to work in the UK at the time of the raid.

Park Food Store had already been caught out in July this year after council officers found a concealed space in its stockroom containing almost 13,000 illicit cigarettes and 14 pouches of tobacco, as well as Viagra tablets behind the shop counter.

That followed a warning based on undercover test visits the previous year where officers were able to buy single-use vapes and illegal cigarettes.

Meanwhile, L6 Local Store, which had previously been stripped of its alcohol licence under a former owner in 2023, was placed under investigation again in November last year.

The committee heard six undercover test purchases of illicit tobacco and cigarettes were carried out, resulting in warnings.

At an unannounced visit in February this year, 130 Viagra tablets were discovered behind the counter and inside the shop's till.

Officers had also noticed that the CCTV in the store was pointed at the ceiling and not at the till, meaning purchases were not being monitored in line with its licence conditions.

The council said staff claimed the camera had been knocked by accident, but a review of the footage showed "a staff member intentionally re-directing the camera with a stick".

A separate visit by Environmental Health officers at that time found mice droppings and mouldy food on sale resulting in a short closure order and a court fine.

Like its neighbour, L6 Local Store was visited again in July where officers found a similar hidden space in the stockroom containing almost 9,000 illicit cigarettes and 11 pouches of unregulated hand rolling tobacco.

An additional 10,000 illegal cigarettes were found in a van parked outside the shop.

The committee also heard the shop had persistently breached its licensing conditions by selling single cans of beer and cider from multi-packs.

In representations to the committee, Merseyside Police said of both stores: "Whilst led by Trading Standards, Merseyside Police have been actively been involved in the significant work that this premises has demanded due to the continuous illegal activity."

The force said it "strongly supported" the committee's review of their licences.

Liverpool Council said unregulated vapes, cigarettes and tobacco "could contain banned ingredients and may pose a serious health risk to anyone using them".

Single use vapes were banned by the government last year, while Viagra is only legally allowed to be sold after consultation with a qualified pharmacist.

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