A SHOPKEEPER in a Southampton community has launched a controversial bid to be able to sell alcohol on his shop floor.

Currently Balkar Pottiwal can only sell alcohol from behind the sales counter at Aldermoor Convenience Store.

But Hampshire police have opposed his bid to change his licence, saying it could add to antisocial behaviour problems in the area.

Mr Pottiwal had a number of strict conditions put on his licence when he took over at the shop in Aldermoor Road in 2012.

As well as having to store his alcohol behind the sales counter and not sell it before 2pm, he has to have a member of door staff present between 6pm and 11pm every day.

Now he wants to remove both conditions, and the city council’s licensing committee will meet to discuss his bid on Thursday.

In a police report opposing the relaxation of Mr Pottiwal’s conditions, PC Sharon Conway says Aldermoor has been described as having a “miserable and heartbreaking history”.

In 2006 17-year-old Daniel Loader was killed by teenager Damien Kershaw outside the store, which was then called Premier Aldermoor.

Kershaw, who was 16, was drunk and had been part of a gang that had stolen alcohol from a nearby Co-op, which has since closed.

In her report, PC Conway says that, although big improvements have been made in the area in recent years, the store is in a “very vulnerable position” due to the risk of alcohol-related crime.

And she says groups of youths still cause damage and drink in large groups in the area.

Supporting the police objection, Lucas Marshall of the city council’s trading standards team said he believed removing the conditions “will undermine the prevention of crime and disorder”.

He added that removing door staff could “only have a detrimental effect”, saying: “It is not unusual for staff, particularly during the evening, to feel intimidated by gangs of youths or drunk persons, which can be exacerbated with a reduction in staffing.”

But ward councillor Don Thomas supported the application. He said: “It’s my opinion that the current owners have turned not only the shop but the whole parade around.”