Trading Standards wants the alcohol licence at Budgens, 65 Lingfield Road, suspended after a 16-year-old volunteer was sold a can of Malibu Cocktail. Councillors decide on Wednesday.

West Sussex Trading Standards has asked Mid Sussex District Council to suspend the alcohol licence at Budgens Mini Supermarket, 65 Lingfield Road, East Grinstead. A council licensing panel hears the case at 10am on Wednesday 4 November.

It is the second review of the shop’s licence in three years. Both followed a sale of alcohol to a child during a Trading Standards test purchase.

The details are in the council’s report to the panel and the Trading Standards review application, both published with the meeting agenda.

What happened on 10 April

Trading Standards officers sent a 16-year-old volunteer into the shop on 10 April 2026. The volunteer picked up a 250ml can of Malibu Cocktail and took it to the till.

The council’s report says the assistant asked no questions and sold it. Officers later checked the till. Its age prompt for the product was working, but it had not been acted on.

One of the shop’s owners was there at the time. He told officers the two staff members were receiving training, and showed them a compliance folder.

Why Trading Standards wants a suspension

The application sets out what came before:

  • 8 February 2023: alcohol was sold to an underage volunteer during an earlier test purchase. The shop then traded as Londis, Anish’s Mini Supermarket.
  • 22 September 2023: a licensing panel reviewed the licence and issued a formal warning rather than a suspension.
  • January 2026: Trading Standards received intelligence alleging that the shop was selling vapes to under-18s.
  • 9 February 2026: an officer made an advice visit on selling all age-restricted products, followed up by a letter.
  • 10 April 2026: the test purchase above.

Trading Standards says it does not believe the licensing objectives are being upheld. It wants a suspension “to limit further criminal activity by this licence holder and to act as a deterrent to other operators”.

Two other public bodies back the review:

  • Sussex Police says it has concerns about the competence of the management. It argues a suspension would give the licence holder time to retrain all staff and tighten age checks.
  • West Sussex County Council Public Health supports a three-month suspension. It says Mid Sussex has 35.2 alcohol-specific hospital admissions per 100,000 under-18s, a rate above England’s.

The shop’s side

The shop has sent the panel its own documents, which are in the agenda pack. The council’s report lists them:

  • online training certificates for all staff
  • manual staff training records
  • its alcohol and children policy
  • refusals logs from September 2025 onwards
  • a written statement from the member of staff who made the sale
  • a certificate showing the store passed an under-age mystery shop for the National Lottery

The shop is licensed to sell alcohol from 6am to 11pm every day, and has been licensed since November 2014.

What the panel can do

Under the Licensing Act 2003, the panel can:

  • change the conditions on the licence
  • remove alcohol sales from the licence
  • remove the designated premises supervisor
  • suspend the licence for up to three months
  • revoke it

It can also decide to take none of these steps. The licence holder can appeal any decision to the magistrates’ court within 21 days of being told of it.

What it means for you

The shop stays open while the review is heard. Any change to its alcohol licence would apply only after the panel’s decision and any appeal.

The hearing is in public in the committee room at Oaklands, Haywards Heath, although the panel can exclude the public for parts of it. We will report the decision once the council publishes it.

If you are worried about under-age sales anywhere in Mid Sussex, you can report them to Trading Standards through the Citizens Advice consumer helpline.