A family-run food store has secured permission to sell alcohol amid concerns of drugs, prostitution and violence in the area.

The borough council's licensing and regulatory sub-committee discussed the application by Imperio Food Stores which is set to open in the former Just A Day Bridal shop in Norwich Road.

Suffolk police had raised concerns ahead of the meeting around the levels of crime and the number of alcohol licences in the area. 

According to the force, there were 165 crimes reported in the 12 months leading to June 24 2024.

These were broken down to 85 relating to anti-social behaviour, 30 involving drugs and another 21 relating to violence against a person.

There were also mentions of littering, prostitution and children being sold vapes.

Beat officer for the area, PC Katherine Bloom, highlighted many of these ‘quite apparent’ concerns in her report submitted to the council.

She said: “Most residents I have spoken to from this area are very concerned about the behaviour that takes place so frequently and the amount of alcohol consumed by people is part of their concern.

“The fear around this being that, when intoxicated some individuals can become aggressive and unpredictable, meaning the residents are frightened to go out at certain times because they don’t want to try to negotiate getting past them.”

The applicant's daughter Brenda Lucena addressed the meeting and said the family-run business, which extends to a café next door, would add to the local community.

She said: “We are committed to help improving the community and we think Imperio will be a good opportunity to hire local residents and bring more prestige to the area.

“We are a friend of the community and we always look to engage in any way we can.”

During the meeting, councillors also heard from Sharon Betts-Palmer, licensing officer for the constabulary, who stressed these issues and recommended the licence be refused.

Ms Lucena acknowledged the concerns and promised to mitigate them as much as possible.

She said: “We completely agree there are concerns within the area, we understand and we are prepared to abide by the rules.

“We do want the area to improve and we wouldn’t want to create any more public disturbances than there are already.”

After some consideration in a private session, councillors decided to grant the licence subject to conditions.

These included, for instance, no individual bottles of beer, stout, or cider could be sold, alcohol could only be sold between 9am and 9pm, and CCTV should be placed in accordance with police requirements.