Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Harrish Bisnauthsing, Councillor Helen Crawford, Councillor Patsy Ellis, Councillor Paul Fellows and Councillor Philip Knowles.

None disclosed.

The minutes of the meeting held on 28 October 2025 were proposed, seconded and agreed.

The Vice-Chairman who was presiding over the meeting stated that due to the large amount of last minute documentation that had been submitted, the meeting would be adjourned until 11:05 to allow the Committee to read the information supplied.

A two minute silence took place at 11:00am.

Meeting adjourned between 10:15 – 11:05.

Under Regulation 14(2) of the Licensing Act 2003 (Hearings) Regulations 2005, the press and public be excluded from the Hearing on the grounds that exclusion outweighs the public interest in the Hearing taking place in public.

For the purposes of paragraph (2), a party and any person assisting or representing a party may be treated as a member of the public.

The Legal Advisor asked those present whether the Committee needed to go into private session. It was agreed with those present that the meeting could remain public.

Hearing to determine an application for the review of a premises licence – Todays Express, 50 Kesteven Road, Stamford, Lincolnshire PE9 1SU, Licensing Officer’s report ENV918.

Decision

To revoke the Premise Licence for the premises known as Todays Express, 50 Kesteven Road, Stamford PE91SU.

The Vice-Chairman introduced those present and confirmed who was to speak in connection with the Review before the Committee.

Lincolnshire Police representative was Sergeant Amy Adams also present from Lincolnshire Police were PC Kat Braithwaite and PC Rebeka Casey.

Home Office Immigration representative was Stacey Donnelly also present from Home Office Immigration was Rebecca Fortune.

Premises Licence Representative was Duncan Craig Barrister also present was the Premise Licence Holder (PLH) Arumugam Kalamohan, Ian Rushton, JL Licensing and Jon Jones, RJJ Consultancy and Rosil Stanislous interpreter.

The Licensing Officer presented the report which concerned a review of the premise licence for Todays Express, Stamford which had been received from Lincolnshire Police in August 2025.  The application for the review related to the licensing objective of the Prevention of Crime and Disorder.  The Police advised that they had obtained evidence which indicated that the management of the premises were operating in such a manner that amounts to criminal activity and thus undermines the licensing objective.  Activity included:

-        Evidence of illegal workers on the premises

-        Breach of the annex 2 and annex 3 premises licence conditions relating to staff operation of the CCTV, out of date DPS Authority list, lack of required signage, right to work documentation, staff training logs and incident and refusal recordings.  Offences under the Price Marking Order Act 2004

-        The sale and display of equipment within the shop that could be used to prepare and smoke illegal drugs.

During the consultation period a representation was received from the Home Office in September 2025 supporting the Police’s application that the PLH was not taking suitable measures to prevent crime and disorder.  Their representation included evidence of a visit made in October 2023 whereby an individual was located on the premises who subsequently had no right to work in the UK. No other comments from members of the public or other responsible authorities were made.

The current Premise Licence permitted the sale of alcohol off the premises from 06:00 to 00:00 Monday to Sunday, with the same hours for opening.   The Premise Licence was granted in November 2013 to Arumugam Kalamohan who was the Premises Licence Holder (PLH) but not the named Designated Premise Supervisor (DPS).

In July 2023 an application was submitted for Arumugan Kalamohan to be the named DPS on the licence which was still current.

The Licensing Officer then referred to the previous history of enforcement action that had taken place at the premise.

-        In May 2020 Lincolnshire Police submitted a review of the Premise Licence.  Arumugam Kalamohan was both the Premises Licence Holder and the DPS at the time of the review.  The decision notice and minutes were contained within Appendix 1 of the documents supplied by the Police as part of their representation.  The review centred around evidence obtained that there was an illegal worker found at the premises and that there had been  ...  view the full minutes text for item 39.

Hearing to determine an application for the review of a premises licence – Today's Local, 10 Red Lion Square, Stamford, Lincolnshire PE9 2AJ, Licensing Officers report ENV917.

Decision

To modify the conditions in respect of Today’s Local, 10 Red Lion Square, Stamford as submitted by the Premises Licence Representative in the supplementary papers to include the following condition: 

-        All alcoholic products will not be displayed for sale adjacent to confectionary, snacks and children’s magazines

This was to allow more robust and enforceable conditions to be part of the Premise Licence.

The Licensing Officer presented the report which concerned an application for the Review of the premises licence for Today’s Local, Stamford which had been received from Lincolnshire Police in August 2025 along with supporting documentation which could be found at Appendix 1 of the report.   The application for the Review related to the licensing objective of the Prevention of Crime and Disorder.  The Police advised that they had obtained evidence that indicated the management of the premises had been operating in such a manner that amounted to criminal activity.  Evidence included:

-        Evidence of illegal workers on the premises

-        Breach of Annex 2 Premise Licence conditions relating to the lack of a personal licence holder on site, lack of required signage, CCTV issues and outdated paperwork.

-        Offences under the Price Marking Order Act 2004.

During the consultation period a representation from the Home Office was received supporting the Police’s application that the licence holder was not taking suitable measures to prevent crime and disorder, their representation included evidence of a visit made in October 2023 whereby an individual was located on the premises who subsequently had no right to work in the UK.   A further visit to the premise in November 2024 raised concerns that there were further illegal workers involved with the premises as shown at Appendix 2.  No other comments from members of the public or responsible authorities were made.

A copy of the current Premise Licence was appended at Appendix 3 which permitted the Sale of Alcohol off the premises from 06:00 to 02:00 Monday to Sunday with the same opening hours.

The Premise Licence was originally granted in 2011 and Arumugam Kalamohan was the Premise Licence Holder and Designated Premise Supervisor (DPS) at the time.  Arumugam Kalamohan was removed as the DPS after August 2012 but remained the Premise Licence Holder.  In September 2022 there was a Transfer of Premise Licence Holder from Arumugam Kalamohan to Mohan Retail Ltd, for which Arumugam Kalamohan is the sole trader.  The current DPS at the premise is Santhosh Sekar.

There was a history on record of concerns with the premises following visits made.  Reports relate to the Prevention of Crime and Disorder and the Protection of Children from Harm licensing objectives.   This included alleged underage sales taking place, as well as concerns regarding the immigration status of individuals seen at the premise.

-        In April 2021 correspondence from the agent for the licence holder and the Police following a visit from South Kesteven District Council and Police after concerns had been reported Appendix 4 of the report supplied details.

-        August 2021 a  ...  view the full minutes text for item 40.

The Democratic Officer informed the Committee that she had not been notified of any items for the scheduled meeting on 25 November 2025 and it was very likely that this would be cancelled.   The next scheduled meeting was due to take place on Tuesday 16 December 2025.  A review was due to be heard at this meeting and a request had been received to move the meeting to Monday 15 December at 10:00am subject to agreement from Members.   Those Members present at the meeting agreed to move the meeting to Monday 15 December 2025 at 10:00am.

The Vice-Chairman indicated that the “Ask Angela” campaign was due to be implemented on a trial basis across the District shortly.  It was noted that the 10 year anniversary would take place in February 2026.

The meeting closed at 15:40pm.