A SHOP caught selling alcohol to children twice in less than two weeks has been allowed to keep its licence.

Costcutter, in Front Street, Burnopfield, near Stanley, County Durham, failed the test purchases organised by Durham County Council’s trading standards team in December and was recommended to be stripped of its permission to sell booze.

But following assurances that the business had taken on more staff and beefed up its training regime, licensing chiefs said they were happy to allow the business to keep trading with no changes.

Durham Constabulary’s PCSO Michelle Williamson said the initial test purchase had been carried out as part of a ‘big event’ testing whether stores in the Stanley area were complying with licensing rules. A second was held to ensure it was not a one-off.

Speaking at Tuesday's meeting of the county council’s statutory licensing sub-committee, she added the store had been targeted after ‘concerned residents and parents’ raised suspicions the store had been selling alcohol to children.