South London residents have rallied against a corner shop's plans to sell booze after claiming their neighbourhood is plagued by rowdy people, broken glass and antisocial behaviour. Residents of Red Lion Road, in Tolworth, submitted a petition opposing Thornhill Food and Wine's proposals to sell booze from 7am to 10pm on Mondays to Saturdays, and from 8am to 10pm on Sundays.

Rathani, who did not provide her surname, told Kingston Council's licensing hearing on July 30 residents on Red Lion Road objected to the plans as the area already has too many shops selling alcohol at night. She said residents are often disturbed at night by noisy passersby and that allowing the shop on Thornhill Road, at its junction with Red Lion Road, to sell booze would likely add to the disruption.

Rathani added: "We also have an issue with the amount of litter in our area – beer cans, food wrappers dumped on the street on a daily basis. This includes parents walking, navigating broken glass from alcohol consumption on the street on the morning run.

"We have secondary and primary school kids walking on the street in the morning, why do they need to feel vulnerable or uncomfortable with antisocial behaviour such as noise, shouting, fighting, aggressive behaviour, litter issues just before going to school?"

Locals are objecting to the plans because they believe too many shops in the area already sell alcohol. (Photo: Google Maps)

A petition submitted to the council ahead of the hearing, signed by 26 residents, added: "Granting a licence would provide a further source of alcohol within an area already so heavily populated with licensed premises that crime, disorder and public nuisance have already reached problem levels for the local police."

But Suresh Kanapathi, agent for the application, said he could not see a reason to prevent the shop selling booze at the requested times. He said the application had been put together 'very responsibly' with robust conditions that would prevent crime, disorder and public nuisance. The council will publish its decision on the application in the coming days.