DOZENS of complaints, one prosecution and a club shut down over crime and disorder – town hall chiefs in Oldham have revealed the highs and lows of their licensing department.

A report due to be presented to the council’s licensing committee tomorrow (Tuesday) states that in the past year, 48 complaints have been received across the borough about licensed premises.

Issues range from anti-social behaviour, underage sales, noise and ‘selling to drunks’.

Officers say there has been one prosecution for selling alcohol without a licence, a caution for selling alcohol outside licensed hours and a caution for failure to declare an offence while holding a personal licence.

The number of licences for venues that can serve alcohol is on the rise, with eight more granted since 2016. And the number of personal licences has risen to 2,756 from 2,485 two years ago.

However town hall chiefs refused to grant a licence to Royton Korner Shop on Middleton Road as the applicant had been cautioned for possession of ‘illicit tobacco’ and for the sale of cigarettes to under 18s.

Trading standards had argued the owners had acted with a ‘disregard of the law’, and were concerned that if it was allowed access to alcohol, the store ran the risk of illegally selling it to children.

And a premises licence for Club Revelution on Yorkshire Street was revoked by the committee, who agreed with Greater Manchester Police that the premises were ‘associated with serious crime and/or disorder’.

The panel gave their reasons as ‘ongoing concerns about the management of the premises’, together with concerns about public safety, and associated issues relating to ‘crime and disorder inside and in close proximity to the premises’.

But Andy Heyes, owner and former licensee said he believes they were shut down unfairly.

“When you take into account all the issues that are going on with the other clubs in Oldham and we are the only ones shut down, it doesn’t seem very fair really,” he said.

“We had agreed to change the doormen and get a new team in because there had been a history of violence against customers. We said we would change and they didn’t give us the chance to. We lost our livelihood.”

The report states that the objectives of the licensing department are to make sure people and premises are compliant with the law and the terms of their licence.

This covers ‘proactively licensing premises and individuals engaged in alcohol supply, entertainment and late night refreshment, participation in Pubwatch schemes, partnership projects and joint, intelligence led inspections to ensure licence conditions are not being breached’.

Officers propose to continue running a half-day Trading Standards course for all businesses that sell any age restricted products such as alcohol, tobacco or knives.

Royton Korner shop declined to comment.