Plans by a south-west London supermarket to sell alcohol until 2am every day have been rejected over fears it would lead to more anti-social behavior in the area. Mediterranean Supermarket in Twickenham applied to extend the time to stop selling booze from 11pm to 2am every day, as part of its plans to remain open 24 hours a day.
But Richmond Council has only given it permission to extend the hours it sells booze to 12 on Fridays and Saturdays, after a hearing on October 14. The Met Police objected to the plans due to concerns that intoxicated customers leaving other locations in Twickenham would be drawn to the supermarket, on Heath Road, if it sold alcohol into the early hours of the morning.
PC Joel Clewett said: “I think it is likely to attract people who end their night in other venues further down Twickenham where the sale of alcohol has ceased and therefore increase the likelihood of street drinking and anti-social behaviour.”
PC Clewett’s statement to the council before the hearing described how the supermarket is close to Twickenham Green, where youths congregate after buying booze nearby. He argued that the supermarket selling liquor so late would increase the likelihood of theft or other crimes.
Keith Aris, the council’s Senior Environmental Health Officer, also raised concerns that residents would be disrupted if the plans went ahead. He said: “There is also a problem with the anti-social behavior… when customers leave pubs and then go off to try and buy more alcohol. Loitering around some supermarkets or shops can create a lot of noise and disruption for local residents. “
Mustafa Haligur, a partner of the company, told the hearing that the supermarket did not cause any problems in the area. He said: “We’ve been running the business since 2021 as a very successful service to customers, all residents of the area. We get good (comments) from customers… we’ve heard bad things, but they’re not related to us.”
But the council’s licensing committee decided to only extend the hours the supermarket can sell booze to 12 on Fridays and Saturdays, which was suggested as a more suitable time by the police and environmental protection. In a report of its decision, the committee said it was ‘concerned by the objections raised by the police and the evidence of anti-social behavior outside and near the premises, particularly in the early hours, so that it had considered refusing the application in its entirety’.
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