Blaenau Gwent Council’s Statutory Licensing Sub-Committee has decided to revoke the premises licence for Bargain Beer, Market Street, Ebbw Vale, following a review.
The owner, Mr Amar Kumar Sharma was also removed as the Designated Premises Supervisor,.
The decision can now be appealed, which means alcohol can continue to be sold from the shop until any appeal is lodged and heard.
A review was requested by the Council’s Licensing Officers and supported by Trading Standards Officers together with Gwent Police, after evidence was gathered that showed several conditions of the premises licence were not being complied with.
At its meeting on 17th June 2026, the Sub-Committee also heard that complaints had been received from members of the public in relation to the sale of alcohol and cigarettes to underage persons, or proxy sales where alcohol is purchased for a minor by an adult.
Concerns were also raised that Licencing conditions were breached in that the CCTV at the premises could not provide evidential quality footage for the time period required by law; that no training records for staff on the appropriate sale of alcohol were available; no ‘challenge 25’ policy was in place or promoted and there was no adequate record of sales refusals.
There had been some minor improvements made recently on refusals record keeping, but the committee were not confident that the conditions of premises licence would be fully complied with.
Mr Amar Kumar Sharma had the opportunity to address the committee with his reasons for non-compliance.
In considering the application for review, the sub-committee considered the provisions of the Licensing Act 2003, in particular, the licensing objectives, which are:-
- The prevention of crime and disorder
- Public safety
- The prevention of public nuisance
- The protection of children from harm
Chair of the committee, Councillor Lisa Winnett said:
“We’ve recently launched a Community Alcohol Partnership in Ebbw Vale, which aims to reduce alcohol-related harm among children and young people and support safe communities. As a Marmot council, health and wellbeing is a top priority, and we are committed to working with partners to support young people to make positive choices. We will be continuing to work with businesses to ensure that licence conditions are adhered to but will look to take further action where necessary.”
Mr Amar Kumar Sharma has 21 days to appeal from receiving the written decision.