An application to sell booze 21 hours a day at a New Wortley convenience store will be considered by councillors early in the New Year.
Booze Plus, on the junction between Tong Road and St Mary’s Close, currently sells alcohol for consumption off premises between 8am and 11pm Monday to Saturday and 10am-10.30pm on Sundays. A new application would see those hours extended to 6am to 3am every day.
A proposal for the shop to sell alcohol 24 hours a day was withdrawn by applicant Saqib Ahmed in October 2022 following local concerns. Both West Yorkshire Police and the council’s public health and environmental health teams also objected amid fears of increased anti-social behaviour and street drinking.
Police and the council’s environmental health department have already objected to the latest proposals, alongside Leeds West MP Rachel Reeves and Armley’s councillors, mainly on the grounds of public nuisance in a residential area.
Mr Ahmed’s latest proposals say a suitable CCTV system will be in operation to deter anti-social behaviour, a register of the designated licence supervisor, incident logs will be kept and the premises will operate a Challenge 25 policy to deter under age drinking.
Members of the council’s licensing sub-committee will meet at Leeds Civic Hall on Thursday, 4 January 2024 (10am) to decide the application. The full agenda and papers can be read in full here.
