Late night hours refused for Pensarn shop

Jan 15 2009 by David Simister, North Wales Weekly News

CONTROVERSIAL plans for a shop in Pensarn to serve alcohol as late as 3am have been canned.

Proposals by convenience store Premier, which already operates a store in Abergele on Maes Canol, to open a branch on Marine Road with late opening hours were turned down at a meeting of the county council’s licensing committee last Friday.

Cllr Jean Stubbs said: “I’ve been concerned for the residents who live in the area nearby who would have had to put up with noise and disruption into the early hours.

“I do feel that having opening hours that late would have been a joke. That area’s always very quiet after 11pm, so the only customers would have been people driving in from the A55 rather than any residents who live locally.”

But store co-owner Steve Darbey believes the shop will give the area an added boost and he will draw on his experience of running a similar store on Rhyl’s Wellington Road with his new venture.

“After speaking with North Wales Police we’ve agreed initially to open until 11.30pm, but I believe we can prove to the local community we can run this store with minimal disruption,” he told the Weekly News.

“We are allowed to open later for special occasions and I’m hoping that we can build up a good reputation and show we are a responsible retailer. Although we do sell alcohol, we sell everything else from groceries to phone top-ups and are hoping to cater to both local residents and the tourist trade.”

The Marine Road store is expected to open later this year.