A shop in East Reading has had its licence to sell alcohol revoked after accusations of stolen goods being sold, according to police.

Yuvraj's Mini Market in Manchester Road had a licence to sell alcoholic drinks along with snacks and other items to customers.

But the managers of the store got in trouble with a Thames Valley Police licensing officer who accused them of selling stolen goods.

An accusation that has been heavily disputed by the store owners.

In an inspection, police and council licensing officers allegedly found a number of bottles of spirits with security tags attached to them, and a blue plastic bag which contained a substantial amount of tags.

These security tags were allegedly attached to the bottles even though the store does not have a security tagging system in place.

The alleged discoveries were made in an inspection undertaken at around 11am on Wednesday, June 28.

READ MORE: Off licence in trouble over 'stolen' alcohol allegations

Thames Valley Police therefore accused staff at the store of handling stolen goods and called for the licence to be reviewed. The licence review was supported by council licensing officer Robert Smalley, who noted that Manchester Road suffers high levels of anti-social behaviour including street drinking, drug use, graffiti and assaults.

The store has now had its permission to sell alcohol revoked in a private meeting of Reading Borough Council’s licensing applications committee.

The meeting was initially publicly accessible, however, Bill Donne, the legal representative of Yuvrajs Mini Market called for the meeting to be held in private as the owners’ disputes over the police allegations contained confidential information.

The committee therefore decided to have the meeting in private.

Ultimately, the committee decided to revoke the licence, meaning staff at Yuvrajs Mini Market will no longer be able to sell alcohol from 8am to 11pm each day.

The decision was made by councillors Paul Woodward (Labour, Church), Deborah Edwards (Labour, Southcote) and Sue Kitchingham (Labour, Caversham Heights) on Thursday, December 7.

The owners of Yuvrajs Mini Market have the right to an appeal, which needs to be made within 21 days of the revocation notice being served.

Mr Donne said: “My clients are bitterly disappointed with the decision and are seriously considering an appeal.”

He added that the owners dispute the allegations made by the police.

If an appeal is made, a premises can operate under its current licensing conditions until the licence is decided on at a hearing at a magistrates court.

Magistrates have the power to dismiss the appeal, change the penalty or overturn the decision made by the licensing committee.