An off licence has been banned from selling alcohol for two weeks – after suspected fake wine was found when council officers spotted spelling mistakes on the labels.
Express Stop in Holloway Road, Archway, received the suspension and a raft of new conditions on its licence on Thursday – but it escaped having the licence taken away altogether.
The shop had been found with 55 bottles of suspected counterfeit Jacob’s Creek-branded wine in a trading standards swoop in March.
Manager Arshad Mahmood said: “I’m disappointed with the suspension. We have a good record and have had lots of checks in the past and never had any problems. When it happened, I had a baby born prematurely and was away at the time.
“I would not recommend opening a business to anybody because of the way you are treated – you’re better off sitting at home and claiming the dole. We’re not making a lot of money to begin with and they’re threatening people’s livelihood by doing this.”
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