A SHOP which was caught selling alcohol to children has lost its appeal against the council for revoking its premises licence.

Junctions Grocers in London Road, had its licence taken away by Reading Borough Council last year after they were found to be selling booze to underage children.

The owners of the store appealed the licensing committee's decision, but a judge rejected their request at an appeal hearing last Monday.

Councillor Paul Gittings, lead member for consumer services, said the council are pleased with the decision, which also awarded costs.

Cllr Gittings said: "Two of the council’s key objectives for licensing are the prevention of crime and disorder and to protect children and young people from harm.

"Selling alcoholic drinks to young people clearly goes against these objectives, and we would urge stores that sell alcoholic drinks to carry out proper checks on the age of young people who try to buy these drinks from them.”

Following complaints from residents accusing the store of selling alcohol to teens, officers at the council organised an undercover operation.

Owner Mr Gurung, failed two test purchases, selling alcohol to minors on both occasions, prompting action from Trading Standards to ask for the licence to be reviewed.

The Council's Trading Standards team visited the shop for themselves, and seized more than 100 bottles of illegal alcohol.

Cllr Gittings added: "By removing the illegal alcohol from the shop, the Council has prevented a potentially serious health risk to unwitting consumers and also prevented the shop from undercutting the prices of legitimate traders. Hopefully, it will make traders think twice about stocking these products.”