Oxford Road will get a new ‘supermarket’ after plans were approved for a new off licence near Reading West Station.

Reading Borough Council’s (RBC) Licensing Applications committee approved a licence for new shop Oxford Road Supermarket, which will replace MTC Motorcycles at 267-271 Oxford Road.

But the shop will not be able to sell beer and cider above 6.5 per cent.

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Another shop on Oxford Road, Butts Convenience Store, was handed a superstrength booze ban at the same meeting after Thames Valley Police (TVP) asked for its licence to reviewed following failures to follow conditions, including the suspected employment of an illegal worker.

TVP officer Simon Wheeler said, due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Home Office was not able to investigate whether a worker did not have the right to work in the UK.

He said the police would have asked for the licence to be revoked if there was proof an illegal worker had been employed.

Butts Convenience Store’s legal representative Surendra Panchal said the shop’s management does not know whether the employee had the right to work in the UK.

Both shops have been handed a series of conditions to help tackle street drinking and anti-social behaviour, with Butts Convenience Store also being banned from selling single cans along with the 6.5 per cent ban.

TVP says sales of super-strength cheap beers and ciders on Oxford Road is “fuelling incidents of alcohol related crime and disorder in the area”, and says it is “of extreme concern and a priority for the Oxford Road residents and community to resolve this issue”.

Peter Bowyer, chairman of the Oxford Road Safer Neighbourhood Forum, said: “Oxford Road and the surrounding streets have a history of problems with anti-social behaviour, much of which is attributable to the street population and coincides with alcohol and drug misuse.

“Problems such as rowdy and intimidating behaviour at all hours, aggressive begging and street urination are daily occurrences.

“The same individuals are regular customers of the drug dealers who operate overtly in our neighbourhood.”

READ MORE: Sixth Oxford Road, Reading store faces booze licence review

Six Oxford Road stores have had their licences reviewed in the last few months, with one store – Willis & Short – still awaiting a hearing to decide which conditions will be added to its licence.