A SHOP in Ledbury has been refused permission to sell alcohol after trading standards officers found illicit tobacco and alcohol on the premises.

Acting on a tip-off, officers, joined by West Mercia Police, visited Alex Polish Shop on New Street on April 11 with non-duty paid tobacco and alcohol found.

Herefordshire Council's principal trading standards officer, Tim Thorne, was one of those who made the unannounced visit.

"I saw the shop assistant try to put some cigarettes into her bag," he told a Regulatory Sub-Committee hearing, adding a safe in the shop was found to contain more non-duty paid items including cigarettes and Polish vodka.

"She said they were hers but said the cigarettes were £45 per sleeve."

Applicant Anna Zelasko was supported by her husband who said the goods were not for sale, instead being kept for his 35th birthday.

The committee heard the items were placed in the safe so the couple's three young children could not get hold of them.

Mrs Zelasko was applying for permission to sell alcohol every day from 9am - 10pm, an application the police opposed.

After deliberating for almost an hour, the three-man committee said it found in favour of the police and trading standards and rejected the application.