A west Reading off licence owner lost his booze licence after two illegal workers were found at the premises and licensing conditions were breached.

Simply Fresh Supermaket, on Nothumberland Avenue, Whitley, was inspected three times over 11 months, with the illegal workers found on the second visit in June 2018.

The store, owned by Amar Singh, has been subjected to £30,000 in fines from the home office for the Nepalese workers.

Richard French, licensing officer, said: "It is very basic stuff and every visit seems to be the same issue.

"Most concerningly, the staff behind the till had not been licenced to sell alcohol.

"There seems to be a complete lack of control which the premises licence holder seems unwilling or unable to rectify."

The visit was conducted by licensing officers, Thames Valley Police and the Home Office on August 17 as a random check; all three subsequently applied for the licence to be revoked.

A husband and wife from Nepal, both without the right to work, were the only staff at the premises.

Mr Singh said the workers had told him they had the right to work, but the owner failed to verify this information.

Barrister Duncan Craig, Mr Singh's representative, called for the licence to be suspended for three months to allow his client to become fully compliant.

He said: "There is a record of improving compliance. There are improvements that still need to be made. "

Councillor Paul Woodward, Licensing chair, said: "The committee has no confidence that a period of three months would be used to put the business in order."

Mr French said the owner had already been given 11 months opportunity to become compliant.

In the first inspection on November 2017, licensing officers found 14 licence breaches, with seven breaches found on the third visit on August 17.

The couple were found on the second visit, on June 6,, along with 10 licensing breaches. Both said they were paid less than the minimum wage.

Mr Singh said that he paid them both £8 an hour, but provided no evidence of this.

The owner was also criticised for failing to contact RBC's licensing team before after the second inspection.

Mr French sent a letter, on June 6, 2018, asking for the owner to contact the team when licensing breaches had been rectified but received no correspondance.