Sussex Police asked a council licensing panel on Wednesday 4 November 2026 to suspend the alcohol licence of Corner News & Booze, at 178C Ditchling Road, Brighton, for up to eight weeks. The shop's representative asked the panel not to suspend it, or to limit any suspension to two weeks.
The panel of three councillors, chaired by Councillor Julie Cattell, did not announce a decision at the hearing. The chair said it would be sent in writing within five working days, with appeal rights attached. The hearing was held online and webcast by Brighton & Hove City Council.
What the police asked for
Sussex Police applied for the review on 16 September 2026, on the grounds of preventing crime and disorder and protecting children from harm. We reported the background in our preview of the hearing.
The police licensing officer told the panel she had carried out five full licensing visits since 31 October 2025, alongside warning letters and a meeting with the licence holder. She said the approach had not brought the shop into line with its licence conditions.
She said a further visit on 27 October 2026, during the review period, found three licence conditions were still not being fully met. She also said the notice telling customers about the review was displayed where it could not be read.
The police asked the panel for three things:
- A suspension of the licence for up to eight weeks, to give time for new conditions, paperwork and staff training to be put in place.
- Two extra conditions: a personal licence holder on duty from 10pm until close to supervise every alcohol sale, and alcohol covered or locked away after 10pm when no personal licence holder is present.
- A yellow card under the council's licensing policy.
The officer told the panel the shop is licensed to sell alcohol until 4am daily.
What the police said had improved
The officer said the shop passed a police test purchase on the evening of 27 October 2026, when staff asked the buyer for ID. She said the refusals book had been filled in and two members of staff were on duty after 11pm, which she called a positive.
Asked by a councillor about crime linked to the shop, she said there was no crime data for the premises for the last 12 months. She said the police were not disputing that it is a quiet shop, and that the concern was compliance with the licence conditions.
What the council's licensing team said
The council's licensing team supported the police application. Its officer told the panel the team had given the shop Challenge 25 posters, a refusals register, incident logs and staff training record books in September 2025, January 2026 and March 2026, and said it was disappointing that the materials were not being used.
What the shop and a neighbour said
The licence holder's licensing consultant told the panel the licence holder accepted mistakes had been made and was very sorry. He said they were mistakes, not deliberate breaches, and that staff training records, the incident book and the refusals book were now being kept.
He said alcohol sales were vital to a small shop and that an eight-week suspension could close it. He asked the panel to add conditions without a suspension, and if it did suspend the licence, to keep it to no more than two weeks. He also offered a condition that staff training be carried out by an external trainer.
The licence holder told the panel he now works at the shop five days a week and is there every night after 10pm.
A neighbour who spoke in support of the shop described the licence holder as a pillar of the community and said she had never seen staff sell alcohol to children. She said an eight-week suspension was far too long for a small business. Three residents sent written representations supporting the shop.
What the panel can do
The council's licensing officer told the hearing the panel can change the licence conditions, remove a licensable activity, remove the designated premises supervisor, suspend the licence for up to three months or revoke it. It can also decide that no further steps are needed.
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