Licence review call for Bargain Convenience Store in Winton

Police claim the Bargain Convenience Store in Winton was involved in the sale of smuggled tobacco.

Now, an application has been submitted by Dorset Police to BCP Council for a review of the premises licence at the Wimborne Road store.

In a report to the committee on Thursday, Dorset Police and its partners at HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) said it has identified that the premises, also known as Bargain Booze, 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, visiting several premises where they had received prior intelligence that smuggled alcohol and/or tobacco were being offered for sale.

HM Revenue and Customs (Image: PA)

At 4pm officers attended Bargain Booze and after a search, 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 further stated during the visit that he 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 stated ‘Yes’.

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.

Bargain Convenience Store in Wimborne Road, Winton (Image: Newsquest)

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.

“Dorset Police invite the Licensing Sub-Committee of BCP Council Licensing Authority to take this opportunity to stand alongside Dorset Police and our partners to tackle the sale of smuggled alcohol and tobacco to ensure that other legitimate businesses can continue to thrive.”

Bargain Convenience Store was unavailable to comment.

The meeting will take place on Thursday morning.