A South London corner shop has won a battle to sell booze despite neighbours' claims the area is plagued by rowdy people, broken glass and anti-social behaviour.

Residents of Red Lion Road, in Tolworth, had submitted a petition opposing Thornhill Food and Wine's plans to sell booze from 7am to 10pm on Mondays to Saturdays, and from 8am to 10pm on Sundays.

But Kingston Council's licensing committee granted the licence after a hearing on July 30. The committee ruled the issues reported by residents were not linked to the shop.

Rathani, who did not provide her surname, told the hearing residents on Red Lion Road objected to the plans as the area already had too many shops selling alcohol at night.

She said residents were 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 schoolkids walking on the street in the morning, why do they need to feel vulnerable or uncomfortable with anti-social behaviour such as noise, shouting, fighting, aggressive behaviour, litter issues just before going to school?"

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.

A report on the committee's decision to grant the licence ruled the proposed conditions addressed any concerns about the application. It said there was 'no link between the applicant's operation and the alleged poor parking, street noise, and anti-social behaviour from schoolchildren travelling to school'.