Go Local on Lorenzo Drive has been stripped of its licence after a lengthy hearing at Liverpool Town Hall
The GoLocal store on Lorenzo Drive
Staff at a Liverpool convenience store admitted to undercover officers they “just had to be careful” as they handed over illegal vapes during test purchases. Almost £8,000 worth of contraband vaping products were seized from Go Local on Lorenzo Drive in Norris Green by Liverpool Council’s trading standards team after business owners failed to heed multiple warnings.
After a lengthy meeting, the city’s licensing and gambling sub-committee has stripped the store of its premises licence. As a result, it will no longer be permitted to serve alcohol.
David Dadds, a barrister acting on behalf of the business, described a closure order as a “sledgehammer to crack a nut.” Claire Jones, of Liverpool trading standards, said there had been “underhand techniques” to sell the vapes, including hidden concealments beneath the counter.
A licence for the business was granted to Janakan Paranirupasingam in July 2023 permitting the store to serve alcohol from 8am to 11pm daily. A three-week closure order was granted by Sefton Magistrates Court earlier this month, which prompted the review hearing at Liverpool Town Hall this afternoon.
Miss Jones said she visited the shop on an undercover basis on three occasions between January and March this year. On each visit she was sold an illicit Hiyati vape, which is not permitted for sale in the UK.
On one of the visits, Miss Jones said she was handed a vape with a Dutch health warning and information detailing how it was only for sale in the US. In February, a series of illegal vapes that had been on display previously had been removed, only to be replaced a month later.
A joint operation was carried out between police and trading standards on April 10 in which 640 illegal devices were seized, a large amount of which were hidden behind the counter. Some were concealed behind drinks and stashed in boxes away from display.
The trading standards officer said these vapes had a street value of around £8,000. In a further breach of the conditions attached to the premises licence, Miss Jones told councillors how she was able to purchase a single can of cider above 6.5% abv.
In May, during the same visit, Miss Jones also asked one member of staff if she could purchase a Hiyati vape. She told the hearing how the staff member initially hesitated and asked if she had bought one before.
Miss Jones confirmed she had to, to which the staff member replied: “We just have to be careful selling these.” A notice of closure was issued to the business on May 15, when a further seizure of goods was made from the shop.
PC Nicola Ireland, Merseyside Police licensing officer, told the committee how the force had been made aware of the issues and the business had given the “illusion of compliance” by taking the illegal vapes off display earlier this year. She described this as a “deliberate act to look complaint.”
PC Ireland added how the concealments found by officers were “not the actions of a responsible operator.” Responding on behalf of the proprietors, Mr Dadds said there had been no evidence produced that suggested the vapes on sale were harmful or toxic, nor had any tests been carried out on the products.
The barrister added how his clients bought their products from a wholesaler and challenged the closure order handed down, claiming it was not a public nuisance but rather a private one. Mr Dadds said it had been agreed by consent and a compromise had been reached to shut for three weeks, with the business covering Liverpool Council’s legal fees.
He said moving to close the business would represent a “sledgehammer to crack a nut.” However, at the conclusion of what was on occasion a testy affair, Cllr Christine Banks confirmed his client’s licence would be revoked.