Eastbourne shop has licence revoked due to illegal vapes

On Monday (May 11), an Eastbourne Borough Council licensing panel considered a review application for Zap off-licence, in Seaside Road, which is licensed for the retail sale of alcohol between 8am and midnight, seven days a week.

The application had been submitted by East Sussex Trading Standards in March. It said Hamza Pirot, who is the business director and shop premises licence holder, had recently been convicted of "offences relating to the sale of overcapacity e-cigarettes".

After hearing from representatives of the business and a trading standards officer, councillors opted to revoke the store’s licence.

Reading out the panel’s decision, licensing lawyer Shelley-Ann Flanagan set out why councillors opted to take this course of action, rather than a lesser measure such as requiring the business to appoint a new Designated Premises Supervisor (DPS).

Ms Flanagan said the subcommittee had considered a temporary suspension licence "not to be sufficient" in this case, as "the repeated history of failings in this business indicate no lessons have been learned".

She added: “Therefore, the licensing subcommittee believe it is necessary — to promote the licensing objectives — to revoke the premises licence.”

This decision will be open to appeal for 21 days.

Zap in Seaside Road has had its licence revoked (Image: Google)

Before the panel made its decision, councillors heard from Paul Davison, enforcement and investigations manager for East Sussex Trading Standards.

He told the panel trading standards officers visited the store in April 2023 and found 314 "illegal vapes". The panel heard how Mr Pirot was issued a warning letter after this visit.

Mr Davision said trading standards officers conducted a further inspection in April 2024 and found 1,866 "illegal vapes".

Application documents said 33 vapes were discovered within a plastic bag on the shop counter, while the remaining 1,833 were discovered in a basement.

The panel heard from Mr Davison how Mr Pirot had claimed the items had been in the store prior to the April 2023 inspection and that his London-based supplier had refused to take them back and issue a refund.

According to trading standards, Mr Pirot said the vapes found by the sale counter had been taken up from the basement by a former employee by mistake.

In the full application, a trading standards spokesman said: “On February 23, 2026, Mr Pirot appeared at Brighton Magistrates’ Court where he maintained his not guilty plea. Following a short trial, he was convicted of all offences before the court.”

Mr Pirot expressed a desire to make improvements. A statement submitted in response to the application said: “I take my responsibilities very seriously, including preventing underage sales, maintaining public safety, and following all licensing conditions.

“I am willing to cooperate fully and make any improvements necessary.”

During the hearing, he also told the panel that he had decided to stop selling vapes.

The panel opted to revoke the license.