Tesco given green light for Fargate shop despite controversy over selling booze from 6am

Sheffield Council’s licensing sub committee made the decision after City ward councillors Douglas Johnson, Ruth Mersereau and Martin Phipps submitted a joint objection.

They raised concerns about alcohol being sold from early in the morning, fearing it would contribute to addiction in the area.

But in the meeting, Jeremy Bark, representing Tesco, persuaded the committee to support the new shop at 42-46 Fargate.

He said there are more than 2,000 Tesco Express stores in the country and typically between five and 11 per cent of all sales are alcohol – of those, more than 90 per cent are linked with other goods.

“So it’s not people coming in just to buy alcohol,” he said. “It’s typically people coming in to buy alcohol to go with their next meal or whatever it might be.”

They also have no alcohol promotions other than as part of things like meal deals.

He added: “In terms of alcohol, it’s a small but important part of what we do.

“Within this store, there will probably be a range of around 80 different products, the majority of which will be red and white wine. Compare and contrast that with the product range that will be in the store, which will be approaching around 3,000 products, you can see alcohol is not the predominant product these stores do.”

Concerns

In their letter, City ward councillors said booze sales should be banned between 6am and 8am.

They added: “This is to ensure consistency with independent shops that have recently agreed to an 8am start, and in view of the undoubted public health risks of uncontrolled drinking.

“The premises is in the City ward which has 83 per cent higher alcohol attributable deaths than Sheffield as a whole and therefore any measures which make alcohol more affordable and available in the area should be discouraged.

“It’s also close to alcohol treatment services in Sheffield and it is a key concern of Sheffield clinicians that nearby affordable / available alcohol can discourage individuals from addressing their problems with alcohol.”

The decision

Councillor David Barker, chair of the committee, announced the decision to grant the licence as applied for.

He said: “We do so on the basis that you put forward a very strong case to us for a very well managed retail outlet in the city centre. We wish you every success with it and we hope we don’t see you here again for a review but I’m sure you won’t.”