After public outcry and objections from the police and trading standards, a supermarket in Wisbech has been refused an alcohol license by Fenland District Council’s licensing committee.

Nene Supermarket, at 12 Lynn Road, applied for a license despite being located in the middle of the town’s Cumulative Impact Zone (CIZ) - an area which carries a “rebuttable presumption” against new licences in a bid to tackle alcohol-related crime.

The application was criticised by health chiefs, the police, trading standards and nearby businesses, who said Wisbech “doesn’t need” more off-licenses and that street drinking would “only get worse” if the license was granted.

The application went before the licensing committee yesterday (November 14) and was unanimously refused on the grounds that the applicant, Ayad Ali Saide, has “failed to produce evidence to demonstrate that granting the licence will not add to the impact and challenges that already exit in the locality.”

Mr Saide, who withdrew an application in August after it was found to “contain various errors of detail,” said that the sale of alcohol would only make up a “small part” of the business’ turnover and that “every precaution” has been taken to ensure its neighbours are not disturbed as a result of the sale of alcohol.