Bolton Council’s Buying and selling Requirements staff has requested for the premises licence of Alp’s Comfort Retailer, often known as Sami Comfort Retailer, to be reviewed on Chorley Outdated Street.
The council says the store has been linked to the sale and provide of illicit tobacco and vaping merchandise for a number of years, with a sequence of enforcement visits happening since 2023.
Essentially the most placing discovery was mentioned to have come throughout an unannounced go to in February this 12 months, when officers attended alongside Higher Manchester Police and a tobacco detection canine.
In accordance with a Buying and selling Requirements officer’s assertion, the canine indicated in direction of a tiled wall behind a bathroom.
Officers mentioned the electrical energy provide was tripped, releasing a magnet beneath the tiled panel and permitting it to be opened.
Behind it was a void containing insulation and a small pulley which, when pulled, opened an extra hid area containing suspected illicit tobacco merchandise.
Footage submitted to the licensing committee present the apparently unusual tiled wall and the hid compartment behind it containing packets of tobacco.
Buying and selling Requirements claims among the merchandise had been saved in “extremely unsanitary situations”, with indicators rodents had accessed and eaten a few of them.
The authority mentioned cigarettes and hand-rolling tobacco recovered from the concealment had been damp and smelled strongly of “urine/ammonia”, probably placing prospects in danger.
Buying and selling Requirements says its first enforcement go to detailed within the overview passed off in December 2023.
Officers reported discovering packets of Lambert & Butler cigarettes which they suspected had been counterfeit, in addition to 52 disposable vapes marketed as offering 3,500 puffs.
Two formal warning letters regarding tobacco and e-cigarettes had been subsequently hand-delivered to the premises in January 2024.
Additional suspected counterfeit cigarettes had been seized in November 2025 earlier than the hidden compartment was found in February this 12 months.
The council additionally says an undercover take a look at purchaser purchased a packet of Lambert & Butler cigarettes from the store for £5 on Could 19.
A witness assertion says a person left the store after the cigarettes had been requested earlier than returning and handing a packet to the investigator, who paid £5.
Licensing officers have additionally raised considerations about compliance with the store’s alcohol licence.
Council information state officers repeatedly discovered issues together with lacking Problem 25 signage and refusal or incident logbooks.
Throughout a go to in Could, Problem 25 posters and a refusal log had been in place, however officers mentioned CCTV footage was being retained for 4 days relatively than the 31 days required by the licence.
Additionally they mentioned there was no incident logbook, workers coaching information or proxy-sales warning signage obtainable.
Bolton Council’s Licensing Compliance Staff is supporting the overview and has requested councillors to revoke the premises licence.
It claims the prevention of crime and dysfunction and safety of kids from hurt licensing goals have been “critically and persistently undermined”.
In its illustration, licensing officer Neil Brown mentioned: “Having thought-about the issues outlined above, I imagine that if the licence had been to stay in place, the premises licence holder would proceed to undermine the licensing goals and negatively impression the area people.”
He added: “Accordingly, we respectfully request that the Licensing Sub-Committee revoke the licence in query.”
The store’s present licence permits alcohol to be offered for consumption off the premises between 8am and 10.30pm each day.
The Licensing Sub-Committee is because of take into account the case at Bolton City Corridor at 2pm in the present day, Wednesday, September 30.