A SHOPKEEPER whose underage staff were caught selling alcohol to a 15-year-old boy on two occasions has avoided having his licence revoked.

A test purchase operation was carried out at Taah Convenience Stores on White House Drive and Front Street in Sedgefield last September after concerns were raised about suspected underage alcohol sales.

Police and Trading Standards officers sent a 15-year-old boy into both stores to buy alcohol and on the teenager was successful both times, despite being unable to provide identification when asked in the Front Street shop.

Durham County Council’s licensing sub-committee also heard both shop assistants were 15-years-old.

Trading Standards officer Graham Blount said he had serious concerns about the ability of the owner and dedicated premises supervisor (DPS), Thayaparan Rasaretnam, to manage the stores, especially as he owns a third shop in Gainford, near Barnard Castle.

“I would ask for the licence to be revoked in this case because of its serious nature,” he added.

Mr Rasaretnam told the committee he had struggled to find trustworthy staff and said the teenage boys were primarily employed to stack shelves.

He said on the of the night of the tests his wife had been upstairs in the Front Street store and he and his brother had been in the other shop, with the boys instructed to call them to authorise alcohol sales.

However, he admitted these instructions had not been followed and councillors also heard there was a period, while Mr Rasaretnam picked up his brother, when the White House Drive shop had no adult supervision.

Mr Rasaretnam’s solicitor, Jane Gilliead, said her client had taken on more adult staff since the incidents, with four employees undergoing intensive training to become personal licence holders.

She said Mr Rasaretnam had also appointed a new DPS for the Gainford store and had taken steps to ensure all challenged alcohol sales are properly recorded.

“He is obviously very concerned about what has happened and is fully aware of what his responsibilities are under the licensing act,” she said.

“He has put everything in place with immediate effect to ensure nothing like this occurs again.”

The committee suspended the licence of the White House Drive shop for six weeks to allow a new DPS to be appointed. It also reduced the hours the shop is licensed to sell alcohol from 6am to midnight to 6am to 11pm.

The Front Street Shop was allowed to continue but additional conditions were added to the licence.