POST OFFICE OBJECTS TO DUNDEE NEWSAGENTS ALCOHOL BID

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A Dundee post office has objected to an application by a newsagent for an alcohol licence — amid fears that it could impact on community safety.

Masterton Newsagents has applied to Dundee City Licensing Board for an off-sales licence.

But management at the Arklay Street Post Office branch, which is next door to the convenience store and tobacconist, has sent the board a letter of objection.

The letter said: “I am objecting to the above application made for the premises because we need to make a safer environment for the community around us.”

The matter will be considered at Thursday’s meeting of the licensing board.

Janet Hood, the licensing expert hired by Masterton’s owner Rao Imran Haider Saim, said she was aware of the objection.

She said: “Anyone is entitled to object.

“I will consider the application in full and make my recommendation.

“I can’t say how strong it is as an application.

“That’s for the licensing board to decide.”

Coldside councillor Jimmy Black said it was hard to object to the application when so many corner shops now sell alcohol.

He said: “I find it hard to oppose to the application as it would be unfair to all the small shopkeepers in the area.

“It’s not fair to characterise everyone who drinks in a bad way — I don’t think the application would bring the area down.

“But alcohol is too cheap — I’m a supporter of a minimum pricing on alcohol and that’s the way I think we can tackle the problems surrounding drink.”

Masterton’s Newsagents, which is at the junction of Arklay Street and Clepington Road, was robbed by two youths on January 20.

Shopkeper Hassan Majid, 34, told the Tele he feared he might never see his wife and children again after a robber grabbed him by the throat and threatened him with a screwdriver.

A till, cash and cigarettes were stolen.

It was a blow for the shop, which had only come under new ownership at the start of the year.

The licensing board may take the issue of over-provision of alcohol licences into account during its considerations.