Northampton off-licence caught storing £15,000 worth of illegal cigarettes gives up alcohol licence
A Northampton off-licence caught storing £15,000 worth of illegal cigarettes has given up its right to sell alcohol, after police requested the council review the premises licence.
Central Food and Wine in Spencer Bridge Road has given up its right to sell alcohol and follows multiple visits were carried out by Trading Standards and Northamptonshire Police, where officers were able to buy illicit cigarettes.
The shop failed its first test purchase in August 2025, after a trading standards officer asked for ‘cheap cigarettes’ and a worker was observed going outside with what appeared to be a car key and returned with foreign labelled cigarettes, which were sold for £5, according to a report sent to West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) for licence review.
The report adds that in the following month, a further test purchase was conducted and another officer bought an illegal pack of Richmond cigarettes for £4.
On October 23, 2025, a multiagency inspection of the premises took place with Northamptonshire Police, Immigration Officers and Fire Protection Officers.
The authorities forced entry into a white van parked outside the store and found 954 packets of counterfeit, smuggled and cheap whites cigarettes, as well as 37 pouches of illicit hand rolling tobacco. Officers also located a concealment that had been covered and secured over with panels, above a toilet to the rear of the premises.
If sold at the average legal price, the illicit cigarettes and tobacco seized from the shop would cost up to £15,716 altogether.
Central Food and Wine has a premises licence allowing the sale of alcohol between 8am and midnight every day. After the review application was submitted by the police, WNC received an email from the premises licence holder, Ms Nicoleta Puscasu, stating that she wished to surrender the licence.
This means that the business can no longer legally sell alcohol, but it can continue to operate as a convenience store.
The shop has a period of 28 days to apply to the council for the reinstatement of its licence and transfer to a new person. If any objection is made by the police or other authorities, then another licensing hearing would have to be held to determine the application.