The owners of an allnight grocery store will find out this week if they can sell alcohol.

A Brighton and Hove City Council licensing committee will decide tomorrow whether to grant Jennifer's Shop in St James's Street, Brighton, an alcohol licence.

When the shop first applied to the council six weeks ago Chief Inspector Steve Barry, the district commander for central Brighton, said he was "horrified" at the idea of the store being granted a licence.

Since then staff have collected 2,144 signatures in support of their application. Jennifer Balsham, from the shop, will present the petition to the licensing committee.

Until November last year Jennifer's Shop was exploiting a loophole in the law that allowed it to sell alcohol through the night in wholesale quantities without a licence.

This loophole was tightened by the Licensing Act 2003, which came into effect on November 24.

Round-the-clock alcohol delivery services operating in Brighton and Hove, such as Booze Brothers and Car Bar, also had to close and are in negotiations about whether they can reopen again under the new law.

Mr Barry said he was concerned that granting Jennifer's Shop an alcohol licence would increase noise and disturbance in St James's Street at night.

Mrs Balsham said the shop has been vigilant in the past about calling the police if there was any trouble in the street.

She also reiterated that the shop would only sell bulk quantities of drinks as it has in the past rather than single cans or bottles.