A plea for removal of a Winton’s convenience store’s licence has been raised, after emergence of its alleged involvement in criminal activity.
According to local reports, police has alleged that Bargain Convenience Store at Wimborne Road in Winton, also known as Bargain Booze, was involved in smuggled tobacco trade- about which they have submitted an application to BCP Council for a review of its licence.
In a recent report to the committee, Dorset Police and its partners at HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) said it has identified that the premises has “fundamentally failed in the objective to prevent crime and disorder through facilitating the sale and storage of smuggled tobacco”.
According to the application, on July 12 this year officers from Dorset Police, Trading Standards and HMRC conducted an intelligence-led operation in Bournemouth and Poole, during which HMRC located and seized 2,800 cigarettes and 1kg of hand-rolling tobacco from a location in the store where they were being stored or offered for sale.
According to the report, these products were confirmed by the Premises Licence Holder (PLH) as being smuggled and had not been subject of UK duty. The PLH, however, couldn’t identify who he had bought the products from, only that there were “always Polish and Romanians asking if he wanted to buy tobacco”. When asked if he knew the tobacco to be illicit, the PLH allegedly agreed.
The value of the duty that had not been paid on the seized products was estimated at £1,634.Bargain Convenience Store benefits from a 24-hour licence, always permitting the sale of alcohol and other goods, including cigarettes.
In its application, Dorset Police said: “[We] no longer have confidence in the DPS or Premises Licence Holder to uphold the licensing objectives.
“It is the view of Dorset Police that this type of activity should not be condoned, and it is very much our intention to continue to work closely with our partners to conduct further similar operations in the future throughout Bournemouth and Poole to tackle this criminality."
