New Ledbury shop can sell alcohol

Concerns over noise from a new convenience store in the heart of a Herefordshire town have been rejected, clearing the way for it to sell alcohol.

A single objection to the planned Ledbury Convenience Store at 23 High Street in the town’s conservation area was enough to prompt a meeting of

Herefordshire Council’s licensing subcommittee today (August 31), to determine the application by business owner Mehmet Ozer.

Mr Ozer appears to have previously run the Ledbury Grill in same grade II listed premises, which has housed a string of restaurants and cafés in recent years.

The objection to his bid for a licence for the new shop came from an unnamed resident, who raised issues of parking and unloading, signage, the presence of a similar shop nearby, Mr Ozer’s creditworthiness, and potential noise nuisance.

Officials ruled that only the last of these was relevant to the licensing decision.

Mr Ozer’s agent Darren Brice told councillors: “From a noise point of view, I struggle to see how a public nuisance will be created. My client isn’t going to be emptying bins at 10.30 at night.”

He added: “During the 28-day consultation period, we didn’t hear any representations from the immediate occupiers. The objector lives just under a mile away.”

Contrary to the claim in the objection that the shop would operate “much longer” opening hours than previous businesses, Mr Brice that the previous restaurant had operated within “identical” hours.

Councillors did not take issue with this, and agreed to grant the licence.