Garage given hope in bid to beat ban on selling booze

Published on Monday 1 February 2010 08:49

A SHERIFF has ordered the city's licensing board to think again over its decision to ban alcohol sales from a city petrol station.

Bosses at the Esso filling station in Canonmills took the city council to court over the ruling and have now won the right for a fresh hearing of their case.

Other petrol stations banned from selling alcohol may now launch their own legal fights to have their sales rights reinstated.

But the sheriff's verdict is unlikely to prove a successful test case for the Capital as two other garages who challenged a council ban on off-sales have lost their legal bids.

The two BP petrol stations – at Slateford Road and Builyeon Road, South Queensferry – were denied the chance to have their cases heard again.

Council chiefs today said they were "very surprised" by their court defeat, but added that they will give the licensing application by the Canonmills garage "a full consideration".

Business campaigners welcomed the court's decision as they believe the loss of off-sales could prove "the nail in the coffin" for some city petrol stations.

Scottish Government legislation states that councils can deny petrol stations and forecourts the right to sell alcohol unless there is a specific need for it, for instance, if it is in a remote location.

During the hearing at Edinburgh Sheriff Court, lawyers for the Canonmills station argued that it was the "busiest food retailer petrol station in Scotland" and that it was "relied upon to a significant extent by local residents as the principal source of petrol and groceries".

The reliance of customers upon using the station for groceries was argued as satisfying the "specific need" for it to include off-sales.

The garage's licence had been removed in a vote of five to two by the licensing board.

Lawyers for the garage had urged Sheriff Bowen to grant the application, but he decided it was for the "ultimate determination" of city councillors.

The same sheriff denied the legal bids by the BP garages after ruling that the council proved that there was nearby stores which offered shopping alternatives.

Graham Bell, spokesman for Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce, said: "We've lost a huge number of filling stations in recent years. Often the areas which have lost out here are the most disadvantaged, whether that's because they are on the periphery of the city or these are in areas of higher unemployment with less economic wealth generally.

"These stations sometimes have to rely on their retail mix to stay in business. By removing the right to sell alcohol, it's just another nail in the coffin that deprives local communities of services and assets.

"There is sense in removing alcohol from motorway service stations, for instance, which are far away from communities as we don't want people drink-driving. But we can be too moralistic about this subject and that leaves some stations struggling to survive."

A city council spokesman said: "The board are very surprised by this decision, however we will give the application a full reconsideration."

A manager at the Canonmills station said they did not wish to comment on the court decision.