Story by Rory Bennett

Hounslow Council has approved a licence for a warehouse in Brentford that will supply delivery services like Uber with alcohol 24 hours a day. There was an objection to the licence being granted with one resident writing a letter to the council to voice their concerns about the security of the premises.

In a letter to the council, the resident gave two reasons why they believe the application, made by Booze London Ltd, should be rejected. They wrote: "We believe you need to stop this application from going ahead for the following reasons: The prevention of crime and disorder – we believe that it would be so easy to break into these units – especially as everyone now knows what's held in them.

"Public safety: products like this should not be stored in units that are kept open. Any problems / break-ins, drinking the products or selling them on, could/ would cause problems for the community. It could encourage thieves to sell the stolen products illegally, encourage drinking because it's free and perhaps by those who shouldn't – underage youngsters etc, encourage regular break ins."

However, during the hearing, the applicant's representative Surendra Panchel, told the council that the building was sufficiently secure – highlighting measures including a password protected entrance, CCTV and alarm system.

As part of their consideration, the council's licensing panel were informed by Mr Panchel that the warehouse is set to be located at Wow Storage on Transport Avenue – a commercial premises. The purely online business will not have any footfall from the public and is intended to only supply delivery services.

The panel further enquired about the security at the premises and what CCTV was in place. With reference to the map provided within the application, Mr Panchal and the applicant explained that the premises unit was well made, secure, within a gated area and with a manned security reception office.

Mr Panchal highlighted that the security office was also on hand to assist the applicant for any issues they encountered in accessing the premises.

The applicant had also agreed to additional conditions as requested by the police to ensure the warehouse was secure. This includes the installation and continued maintenance of CCTV and not allowing members of the public on the premises.

Having taken all the representations into account and the conditions agreed with the police, the panel decided to approve the application.