A newsagent has lost its licence over concerns that it facilitated street drinking and sold alcohol to a child.

Food 4 Less, in Queensbury Station Parade, had its alcohol licence revoked after “failing to uphold its objectives”.

Brent Council’s licensing committee said it “did not have confidence” that the owners would be able to turn things around, stating it was a “poorly run” shop.

Evidence was provided by the Metropolitan Police and the council’s licensing team, who cited issues with the store’s CCTV system and staff training.

They noted that staff – several of whom could not speak English – had on at least one occasion sold alcohol to “a boy of 12 or 13”.

Officers added that the area has a “serious problem” with street drinking and anti-social behaviour and suggested that the shop was not doing enough to combat this.

“You can’t just put up a few signs, you have to be assertive and quite forceful – you have to act responsibly, said Susana Figueiredo, licensing officer at Brent Council.

“I think there’s a clear way of thinking when you run an off-licence and I’m not sure this premises has it.

“To add some more conditions when they’ve not complied with these ones, will that make a difference going forward? I’m not so sure.”

Several residents complained that men could frequently be seen hanging around and drinking by Food 4 Less.

They added that there was litter and broken glass around the shop, that the nearby park and service road was being used as a toilet and that parents at an adjacent nursery felt “intimidated”.

But representatives for the owner, Chung Lim, pointed out that there is “only so much” he can do when it comes to moving on nuisance drinkers.

Ms Figueiredo added that there had been noticeably fewer complaints once Mr Lim had been informed of the upcoming licence review.

Mr Lim proposed a list of conditions – including stopping the sale of beer and cider – to hopefully alleviate the issues with anti-social behaviour neat his shop.

And he confirmed that the person who had sold the alcohol to a child – who, he said, had been re-trained on the ID process just two days before – had been sacked immediately.

But the council said it was “satisfied” with the evidence that the licence had been breached on numerous occasions and opted to revoke it.