Asda seeks permission for 24/7 alcohol sales at Maidenhead petrol station

A petrol station convenience store operated by ASDA could be allowed to sell alcohol 24/7 if a licensing application is approved.

The supermarket giant, which owns the Euro Garages site in Windsor Road, is seeking permission to sell booze which can only be consumed off the premises.

It also wants to serve hot drinks to customers between 11pm and 5am each night.

The application faced an objection from nearby resident Keith Ashby who questioned the move during the council’s licensing panel sub-committee meeting on Monday.

Mr Ashby told the meeting: “There are seats in the garage and the person behind the till isn’t in a position to monitor the seats. If there isn’t anyone to supervise the seating area, a person could go and buy a drink and sit down.

“I know the applicant says nobody drinks in the car park but as a local resident I can say there have been people drinking in the forecourt and they pull out onto the road and drink in the service road.”

He added he had concerns over littering and ‘boisterous behaviour’ but said he was pleased to hear the store had no plans to serve hot food late at night.

Richard Taylor, solicitor for Asda, told the meeting the retail giant has an ‘unblemished’ record with licensing and said staff are fully trained with Challenge 25 age verification checks in place.

He said: “You can’t buy alcohol and consume it on the site.

“You know from when you do your supermarket shop, you don’t tend to see people walking around drinking a can. They take it to their cars and drive it home.

“People don’t just buy it and drink it because it’s there.”

He added: “The evidence is you have a large major operator, one of the big four, who have never had a problem under licensing since 2003.

“What is going to change if we’re permitted to sell the odd bottle of wine? The answer is, absolutely nothing.”

The licensing panel is expected to make a decision over the application in the next five working days.