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A shop which has been the source of complaints about piles of rubbish in its car park could be refused permission to sell alcohol.
Mounds of bin bags, bottles and other loose waste have become a frequent sight outside KVBV Delikatesy over the previous two years, with regular clean ups required by Preston City Council. According to its Environmental Health department, the last was carried out in October after the land owner failed to comply with notices but since then rubbish has continued to pile up outside the premises.
Now, an officer from the department has formally objected to a licensing application on the grounds of prevention of public nuisance.
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That follows on from an objection from Lancashire Constabulary, whose officer PC Ste Connolly argues the shop’s management have failed to comply with the licensing objectives and that it remains unclear who is actually in charge.
When the alcohol licence was originally granted in 2017, it included a condition which meant it couldn’t sell single cans of booze or anything stronger than 6%. When an informal enquiry about removing those conditions was made later that year, it was explained they were put in place in response to an issue of “street drinking” in the area and no request to modify it was ever received.
In 2022, an application was made to transfer the licence to a company called NCS Pro Limited, of which Monika Lis is the only director. When police visited to carry out an interview in relation to this application, they noticed single cans of high strength beer were on sale. In 2023, another visit was made after complaints of out-of-hours sales and the same issues were spotted.
In January 2024, Ms Lis resigned as director of NCS Pro Limited and a Marian Tereche was appointed in her place. However, it was wound up in September, effectively leaving the shop with no licence.
Despite this, alcohol sales continued to be registered on the shop’s till and Ms Lis, having been identified by staff as the “boss”, was cautioned by PC Connolly. According to his submission, “ a considerable amount of what appeared to be faeces from vermin” was found by officers seizing alcohol from the shop. As a result, the matter was referred to the council’s food hygiene department.
A new application has since been submitted by Ms Lis to allow alcohol sales and now includes her as the sole applicant rather than a business.That application is due to go before the licensing subcommittee on January 13
In her objection, Senior Environmental Health Officer Marie McCracken concludes: “It is clear that the premises cannot control waste and litter and are not proactive in managing this. Uncontrolled litter and waste are unsightly, give a negative impression of the area and harm the reputation of Preston.
“Litter and waste can cause many problems such as offensive odours; attract rats and insects and become a public health risk. Litter and waste can cause people to slip or trip and injure themselves on broken glass or other discarded items.”
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