Shop boss in south Leeds promises no cheap booze amid child welfare concerns

Park Side International Food Store, on Dewsbury Road in Hunslet, has applied to Leeds City Council for a booze licence.

The council’s own public health officers are fighting the plans, claiming schoolchildren will be put at risk of harm if more alcohol is sold in the area, which suffers from high levels of deprivation.

Kewmars Muhamad, has run the shop for 11 years, told a public hearing on Tuesday that he’d never had any issues with the police or underage sales.

His representative, Robert Jordan, said: “My client is not going to sell alcohol to children. He will be very, very careful about that.

“Every area has its problems. This one maybe has more problems than others.

“But based on my experience, if a shop is contributing to those it’s because it’s not well run.

“He’s been here for 11 years. He’s come to this country with nothing in his pocket and he’s made a living for himself.”

Mr Jordan said his client had applied to sell alcohol so that customers could buy booze alongside “milk and bread” and to compete with neighbouring shops already selling it.

He added: “(Mr) Muhamad will not be selling low-cost alcohol, which is what the objection hinges on.

“It’s almost impossible for a retailer of this kind to sell cheap alcohol.”

But Nicola Kelly-Johnson, from Leeds’ public health team, said children could still be exposed to alcohol through adults purchasing it.

She said the postcode around the shop had very high numbers of youth unemployment and children in care.

She told the hearing: “There’s a group of children potentially at risk of harm here. That harm could be through alcohol and why is it through alcohol? Because they’re young and impressionable.

“At best they’re experimenting and at worst they’re traumatised, perhaps from being away from the family home.”

Noting that the area also has a very high rate of ambulance callouts, she said approving the licence would “put a burden on the NHS”.

“If as a council we’re wanting to reduce health inequalities, approving another licence for alcohol wouldn’t be in our children’s best interests, or in those of our colleagues in public health and in healthcare,” she added.

Ms Kelly-Johnson said she was trying to have Leeds’ cumulative impact zone extended to the Dewsbury Road area.

The zone, which is in place around the city centre and parts of other suburbs, makes it harder for new pubs and off-licences to start trading.

All parties were told they’d be informed of the council’s decision in writing within five working days.