Petrol station gets go-ahead to sell alcohol

AMORRISONS petrol station in south Bristol has won permission to sell booze, despite protests from residents who say it will “fuel” antisocial behaviour in the area.

The filling station opposite the supermarket on Peterson Avenue in Hartcliffe has been granted a licence to sell alcohol from 6am to 11pm, seven days a week.

It originally applied to sell liquor 24/7, prompting objections from police and neighbours who said there were already problems in the area with young people drinking, taking drugs and intimidating residents of a nearby housing estate.

But the Avon and Somerset force withdrew its objection after Morrisons agreed to a number of conditions, including restricting the hours.

The supermarket also promised it would put extra CCTV measures in place and would not sell cider, beer or lager stronger than six per cent.

Its legal representative told a licensing hearing that people were treating petrol stations more like convenience stores since the pandemic and wanted to be able to pick up “the odd bottle of wine alongside other groceries”.

But residents remained passionately opposed to the application and united behind housing officer Tim Nicholls, whose evidence summed up their objections.

He told the Bristol City Council licensing committee that he had been a housing officer in that part of Hartcliffe for the past five-and-ahalf years and had seen antisocial behaviour worsen.

He was responsible for three residential blocks opposite the petrol station – Hayleigh House, Middleford House and Millmead House – where a lot of elderly residents and “highly vulnerable” people lived.

He said young people already gathered around the blocks, in nearby streets, in Morrisons’ car park and in a children’s play area in front of Middleford House, drinking and taking drugs.

The problem was worse in winter because they huddled in doorways and stairwells to keep warm, he added.

“They make for the stairwells of my blocks where they consume their drinks, they consume their drugs, they urinate, they leave waste on the stairs, and they intimidate my residents who live in those blocks,” he said. “Having it [alcohol] available at that time of night I just feel will fuel the antisocial behaviour issues that already exist in that immediate area.”

Middleford House resident Amanda Wells said the problem was “constant” in winter, and although she was able to stand up for herself, older residents were more “fearful”.

“I don’t think Morrisons has considered who actually live in those blocks of flats there,” she said.

But Morrisons’ legal representative Richard Taylor said residents’ fears were unfounded as the supermarket’s “watertight” policies and procedures around alcohol sales meant it had never been the subject of a licensing review or prosecution.

The anti-social behaviour in Hartcliffe “has nothing to do with the petrol filling station”, he added.

Morrisons has also been granted permission to open the petrol station 24/7 and to sell food overnight.