Fulham shop shut down after repeated underage sales
A West London convenience store has been permanently stripped of its trading licence following multiple incidents where it allegedly sold alcohol and vapes to underage teenagers, including one case that left a 16-year-old girl in intensive care.
Best Quality Food and Wines on Lillie Road in Fulham had its premises licence revoked with immediate effect after Hammersmith and Fulham Council's Licensing Sub-Committee heard shocking details of repeated underage sales.
Hospitalised after vodka purchase
In the most serious incident detailed during the hearing, a 16-year-old girl visiting from Scotland purchased a bottle of Smirnoff vodka from the shop on July 12 this year. The teenager then took the alcohol back to Scotland with her, where she consumed most of the bottle and required hospitalisation for two days.
Her father provided a harrowing account to council members, describing how he found his daughter "unresponsive" behind her bed. "I began to panic and assumed it was a drugs overdose," he wrote in his statement. "At no stage did we think this was alcohol."
The girl spent time in intensive care under heavy sedation to control seizures before being discharged on July 18. Her father retrieved the remaining vodka from her wardrobe, noting only a fifth of the bottle remained.
Pattern of irresponsible sales
Trading Standards officers presented evidence showing this wasn't an isolated incident. Documents revealed:
- A 2023 complaint alleging the shop sold four 200ml bottles of vodka to four female students aged 14-15
- Multiple reports of vape and alcohol sales to local schoolchildren
- Failed test purchases conducted by underage volunteers working with Trading Standards
In the 2023 case, two of the girls were admitted to hospital after becoming violently ill at school.
Doug Love from Trading Standards and Adrian Overton, the council's Licensing Team Manager, both outlined the shop's extensive history of violations during the hearing.
Last-ditch appeal fails
Premises licence holder Tara Ram Singh appeared before councillors in an attempt to prevent the revocation. His legal counsel, Louis Stelling, acknowledged the failures were "unacceptable" but argued Mr Singh was willing to implement changes including installing a new Designated Premises Supervisor and sending all staff on personal licence courses.
However, Mr Overton countered that Mr Singh had been given a second chance back in 2023 and that trust had "completely broken down."
Mr Singh, who described the business as his only premises and family-run, told committee members he believed the customers appeared old enough and that failed purchases were accidental.
Council members ultimately sided with Trading Standards and the police, voting to revoke the licence immediately. The decision marks the end of a business that repeatedly put young people's health at risk through irresponsible sales practices.
