Sainsbury’s drops Finsbury booze plan
Islington Town Hall - Credit: Archant
A supermarket chain has abandoned a bid to force through a drinks licence in an area already flooded with businesses selling booze.
Sainbury’s wanted to open a new ‘local’ branch – which would sell alcohol – in St John Street, Finsbury.
Islington Council blocked the move because the store would have been in an alcohol “saturation zone”.
Sainbury’s was set to appeal against the decision, but have since dropped the idea.
Cllr Paul Convery, Islington Council’s executive member for community safety, said: “Many parts of Islington are saturated with bars, pubs and off-licences selling alcohol, which has a negative impact on our residents.
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“We are saying enough is enough.”
Saturation zones were set up in an attempt to tackle Islington’s chronic booze problem.
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An NHS report this year said that up to one in 20 deaths could be linked to the bottle in the borough, which also has London’s highest liver disease death rate and highest rate of alcohol-specific death in men.
