A shop which had its licence revoked for selling counterfeit alcohol has been successful in an application to sell booze again.

SFW Express in Church Lane, Leytonstone, lost its licence in June 2014 after it was found to be stocking illicit alcohol and tobacco in 2013.

But the shop located in a controlled drinking area has been granted a licence to sell alcohol again, between the hours of 8am and 11pm, after an appeal was lodged by new premises holder Anwar Ul Haq of Raynes Avenue.

The licensing committee also imposed a ban on the sale of high strength beer and cider, an exclusion of the former license holder from the premises and ordered Mr Haq to be at the shop full time after he trained his son to manage his other shop in the Isle of Dogs.

Trading Standards officers found counterfeit goods including 242 bottles of wine, 154 bottles of vodka, and 63kg of tobacco in November.

The shop lost an appeal in February and the owners were ordered to pay legal costs of £11,983.

The Director of Muree Food Stores had listed a number of measures to prevent crime and disorder, including having two staff on the premises after 11pm and CCTV cameras in operation.

However, there have been numerous objections.

Licensing Officer PC Matt Brown had said the new owner did not understand the issues relating to alcohol in the area.

Church Lane is named in the council’s Cumulative Impact Policy (CIP), which limits the number of premises selling alcohol in one area.

A number of objections had also been made from councillors, including deputy leader Clyde Loakes and residents in the area.

Cllr Marie Pye, of Leytonstone ward, said the previous ban on alcohol had improved the area.

She said: “Whilst there is no empirical evidence of the link between the cessation of these premises selling alcohol and the almost disappearance of the local street drinkers, this has been noticed by myself and local residents.

“It has made this a much nicer place to be, not only for women who were often the target of verbal abuse but for residents generally.”