Fulham Broadway Store Denied New Licence Request
Shan Local has had a history of breaches of conditions
Shan Local on Fulham Broadway. Picture: Google Streetview
October 31, 2025
A Fulham store previously hauled in front of councillors for offences including selling alcohol to a child has been denied a request for a new licence.
Shan Local, on Fulham Broadway not far from Chelsea FC ’s home ground Stamford Bridge, has something of a chequered past with its licence being revoked on more than one occasion.
The first was in 2018 following multiple licensing breaches as well as the sale of alcohol to a minor.
The shop was last year granted a temporary 12-month licence, which ran out in September. Applicant Prabakaran Shanmugaratnam, the licence holder since summer 2023, had requested a fresh premises licence be issued with the same hours.
If approved this would have enabled alcohol to be sold between 10am and 11pm and opening times of 8am to 2am, seven-days-a-week. Hammersmith and Fulham Council’s Licensing Sub-Committee last night (October 28) however voted to reject the submission.
The application received five objections during consultation, one of which was from the Met Police.
PC Charlotte Bennett wrote that during a visit to the premises in August two breaches were identified, namely the sale of beer stronger than 5.5 per cent and the display of pipes used to take drugs.
While these breaches were not repeated upon a second visit, PC Bennett wrote that after researching the history of the shop back to mid-September 2024 further reports were discovered.
These included earlier this year when a man who was detained by police following a theft at Sainsbury’s was seen on CCTV seemingly taking items into Shan Local.
He then left holding his jacket, under which it is believed he may have concealed stolen goods, in a different manner, which PC Bennett wrote suggested “items could have been left at or passed to the premises”.
PC Simon Brett, a ward officer for Walham Green, added in an attached report that they “have been made aware through intel reports and word of mouth that there is anti social [sic] behaviour and possible drug dealing occurring just outside the venue”.
Concerns about the history of the premises were raised in other objecting representations including that submitted by the Chair of the Walham Green Ward Panel, Sarah Chambers.
“The operator has repeatedly over the years not managed to run the premises in a well organised and monitored manner, with many episodes occurring such as sales of alcohol to under age customers, sales of stock which can’t be proven to be legitimately purchased (Wilko’s stock springs to mind), staff not following licensing laws etc,” she wrote.
Adrian Overton, Licensing Team Manager at Hammersmith and Fulham Council, in his representation listed the history of the premises, which includes two revocations and refusals by the local authority.
The second revocation, in 2020, came after an individual banned from involvement at the premises “was found selling alcohol behind the counter,” according to Mr Overton’s report.
“This person was also seen on CCTV purchasing alcohol from someone who the Police later identified as a known shoplifter.”
Further breaches were recorded by the council’s licensing team in May, including there being no incident log being identified.
Mr Overton wrote: “Looking back at the history of this case it is clear that since 2017 this premises has been unable to consistently adhere to the terms and conditions of its licence, despite a change in licence holder and numerous reviews, warnings, and other enforcement action.
“The licensing authority does not believe that adding extra conditions to the licence will stop further offences taking place, and we would therefore suggest to the committee that this application is refused.”
PC Bennett told the Sub-Committee she believes the actions of Shan Local, such as selling high-strength alcohol and drug paraphernalia as was found in August, contribute to wider issues.
“For me I believe operators should be acting responsibly to help reduce any of the crime and ASB associated with the area. We wouldn’t expect them to contribute to it in any sort of way.”
Ms Chambers said that despite the premises having undergone a number of reviews and applications, “we never see any improvement. We see the same things happen again and again. There’s no engagement with the community, and there’s no willingness to run this in a well-controlled neighbourhood in a manner that we’d like it to be.”
Louis Stelling, from Coleridge Law and representing the applicant, said while they accept the premises has failed to meet some of its conditions there are concerns regarding the “general finger-pointing” at the shop as the main cause of problems locally.
He noted that since the applicant has held the licence, no underage sales have been recorded nor have any test purchases by the responsible authorities failed.
“If it was seriously that bad [the police] would be there a lot,” he said. “Thankfully they’re not. Thankfully for the residents, they’re not.”
Asked by Cllr Dominic Stanton about the breaches detailed in PC Bennett’s report, Mr Shanmugaratnam said: “In these 21 months [since he became the licence holder] I would say these are isolated incidents, these have been honest mistakes and we’ve rectified them absolutely immediately.”
“All the big ones that we think contribute to the four licensing rules…we are definitely progressing well on that and maintaining that.”
The question of how much blame should be directed at Shan Local for issues such as ASB was also put to PC Bennett.
While conceding she could not identify it as the sole contributor, PC Bennett said the breaches discovered in the summer were unexpected in particular given the temporary licence, adding “they’re not helping in my opinion”.
Charlotte Dexter, who was representing local resident John Skoulding, spoke directly to the applicant. “It’s your shop that is pulling the whole parade down,” she said. “It’s your shop that is a mess.”
Mr Stelling in his summing up acknowledged the applicant has made mistakes, though added: “He does not accept the broad stroke insinuation that Shan Local is at the heart of the public disorder that seems to be systemic in your area.”
The Sub-Committee resolved to reject the application in full.
Ben Lynch - Local Democracy Reporter