Dorset Police is asking for a review of the premises licence for the Polish shop in King Street, Weymouth.

The force says it no longer has confidence in the business and claims that smuggled tobacco had been sold and stored there.

A council licencing committee will be told next week that almost 350 packs of cigarettes and hand rolling tobacco were discovered by a joint services visit in November 2021. A further visit followed in October 2022 when similar quantities were found as well as illegal vapes.

Test purchases in February 2023 led to another visit by the police and trading standards officers when 12,500 packs of cigarettes were seized along with 100kg of hand rolling tobacco and over 1,000 illegal vapes, as well as 19 boxes of nitrous oxide cannisters, commonly known as ‘laughing gas.’

Police say it is believed to be one of the biggest seizures Dorset Council Trading Standards has ever made of cigarettes and hand rolling tobacco.

Councillors will decide at a licensing meeting on Thursday, May 4, whether to allow the business to keep its licence, or to revoke it. They will be told that the premises is currently without a Designated Premises Supervisor, effectively negating the premises licence.

The shop was originally licenced as the Polish Deli, but is now signed as Weymouth Market.

Said a statement from Dorset Police: “In summary, the premises is involved in criminal activity that the Licensing Act 2003 considers particularly serious, namely the sale and storage of smuggled tobacco. Dorset Police no longer have confidence in the Premises Licence Holder.”

Councillors will be told that the premises licence is currently suspended, preventing the sale of alcohol, due to the non-payment of the annual fee and a lack of a designated supervisor.

Said a Dorset Police statement to councillors: “There can be no excuse for licensees promoting crime within their premises. When considering the relevance of the review and the potential sanctions, if any, that the Sub-Committee may choose, it should be emphasised that Dorset Police and other partner agencies are working tirelessly to tackle this type of criminality that is becoming a National concern. It is the view of Dorset Police that this type of activity should not be condoned and further similar operations are planned for the future throughout Dorset to tackle this criminality.”