Southall Store Keeps Licence Despite Repeated Breaches

Lady Margaret Superstore hired illegal workers and sold illegal goods

The Lady Margaret Superstore has violated licensing conditions on multiple occasions. Picture: Google Streetview

February 18, 2026

A Southall off-licence has been allowed to remain open despite repeated licence breaches including the hiring of illegal workers and sale of illegal goods.

Lady Margaret Superstore on 480 Lady Margaret Road was instead given a tranche of new conditions it must follow to remain open. The review was triggered by two separate incidents taking place between May and December of 2025.

On May 31, 2025, a joint raid by a council licensing team and immigration officers found a number of breaches, including an ex-student with no right to work unloading a delivery truck for the store. The man attempted to flee, however he was caught by an officer and placed into handcuffs.

Once detained, the man was said to be very nervous, attempting to explain the incident away claiming “I don’t work here, I’m just helping.” However, checks later found he was a student visa holder who had his permittance to remain in the UK cancelled for non-attendance at his course.

He later admitted he had been working at Lady Margaret Superstore for two months, paid £60 a week for two days’ work. During the same raid, offices found 50 non-compliant vapes and high strength beers on sale – violating a condition from a previous licensing review in 2010 intending to stop street drinking.

However, this raid was not enough to put the store off violating the licensing conditions. When an officer visited on December 5, 2025 to serve legal papers for this licensing review, a staff member was caught red-handed attempting to hide a box of illegal vapes upon entry.

The licensing office found five more illegal vapes hidden in a box, and found yet more high strength beers which were not price marked – meaning warnings given just six months earlier had gone ignored. The shop has a history of non-compliance, as in 2019 over 500 illicit cigarettes were found hidden in a coat.

Despite the repeated violations and ignored warnings, the licensing subcommittee decided not to heed to requests to suspend or withdraw the licence. Reading out the decision of the committee, Cllr Kim Kaur Nagpal said that the committee was satisfied with licence holder given he had paid in full a civil penalty for the immigration offence, and had engaged proactively with Ealing Council to remedy the issues.

The store agreed to a new, stricter set of conditions which the committee expects will prevent future violations. Previously, the shop had been capped at selling alcohol at 5.5 per cent ABV – something which had been violated on numerous occasions.

The committee voted to increase this minimum, despite repeated violations, to 6 per cent ABV, requiring all to be price marked. The shop is also banned from buying stock from “door-to-door sellers.”

Receipts for all stock must be kept, including the sellers name, company, VAT and product details for at least 12 months. A strict “Challenge 25” policy has been mandated, replacing the old “Challenge 21” policy.

Finally, alcohol can no longer be stored on the floor, instead on purpose-built shelving. Before hiring new staff, the supervisor will be required to verify all staff ID on the Home Office website.

Philip James Lynch - Local Democracy Reporter