A bid to extend the alcohol licence of an Erdington off-licence should be refused, police have argued – with concerns that the recent vandalism of a police car by youths could be repeated.
Speaking at a licensing hearing to decide whether the Witton Lodge Convenience Store could remain open until 1am throughout the week, police voiced concerns that anti-social behaviour in neighbouring Kingstanding could commute to Erdington if the application is granted.
“It is evident that it’s a very quiet residential area, and it has been for as long as I’ve been a neighbourhood officer in the area,” said PC Aziz, who works on the neighbourhood policing team.
“The surrounding area which includes the Kingstanding area unfortunately does suffer with anti-social behaviour and criminality by a large number of youths, who have caused numerous problems for the police.
Youths in the Kingstanding area are known to hang around off-licences until late committing anti-social behaviour, though the majority of premises in the area close at 11pm, he noted.
“Now the criminality that this group of youths is involved in is quite serious, from the most serious to lower level antisocial problems. The problems are already occurring in these areas frequently, and I’m confident that anti-social behaviour from their off-licences will naturally migrate to Witton Lodge.”
However the applicant has hit back, insisting that the police have little evidence to suggest that there will be an increase in crime in the area surrounding the shop and that their representations did not stand up to scrutiny.
They also pointed to a 500-person petition from members of the local community in support of the application.
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