SMUGGLED bottles of alcohol seized by police could cost a convenience store manager his premises licence.

Hamayoon Siddique Butt was on duty when officers from Thames Valley Police visited Butts Convenience with the council's licensing team on May 1.

Tip-offs from residents prompted the visit to his Oxford Road shop which saw police seize 25 bottles of alcohol, including Smirnoff and Glens Vodka and a bottle of Famous Grouse whisky with counterfeit labels.

Both Mr Butt and shop worker Kuldip Singh Dhariwal, also present during the visit, were unable to provide officers with receipts to prove the bottles came from a legitimate source.

A report to be submitted to the Licensing Applications Sub-Committee, who could revoke the licence at Friday's meeting, reads: "At all relevant times, both Mr Dhariwal and Mr Butt have either been the premises licence holder or designated premises supervisor of these premises.

'Mr Dhariwal and Mr Butt are clearly willing to take risks with this business and to damage the local community and are playing a significant part in reducing standards of alcohol retail across Reading."

The report also outlines that the store failed two test purchases which led to the shop's premises licence being suspended for two days following a November 2011 meeting of the same committee.

In August 2008, a 16-year-old female was sold a bottle of Smirnoff Ice by another employee leading to a council management meeting to take place that same year in November.

Another failed test purchase followed in January 22 when a 14-year-old male was sold four cans of Stella Lager by another shop worker resulting in a fixed penalty notice being served.

The shop did, however, pass a test purchase in February 2009.

At the same meeting on Friday, councillors will also discuss a review of Basingstoke Road convenience shop Today's Local, owned by premises licence holder Gurmit Gurwara.

Police attended the store on April 9 with the council's Trading Standards team and seized illegal tobacco found by a sniffer dog in the tobacco store cupboard.

The following week, on April 14, the teams visited the shop again and 13 bottles of smuggled alcohol were seized including 10 bottles of Smirnoff Vodka, one bottle of Glens Vodka and one bottle of High Commissioner whisky.

Another visit occurred on May 29 with the council's licensing team, who found the Whitley shop's CCTV was not operational and recordings were only available for 11 days.

The report reads: "If the premises holder is unable to account for where the stock had come from and just willing to trade in illegal or smuggled goods, then it is clear that he has no idea what is actually inside the the bottles he is purchasing.

"He is, in effect, placing on his shelves bottles of spirits that could contain hazardous substances that are not normally found in alcohol. These hazardous substances could be industrial strength alcohol, domestic decorating products and/or liquid nitrogen."

Both shop owners have declined to comment.