A SHOP owner at the centre of a licensing review says he has been ‘victimised’ by the authorities.

Michael Sollinger, who owns ANJ Off Licence in Bournemouth, fears he will lose his premises licence over “one silly mistake”.

Dorset Police had requested a review of the licence earlier this month following reports that the premises operator had been involved in alleged criminal activity.

Michael said this was a related to incident at the convenience store, in which he purchased stolen headphones over the counter.

He said: “I made a mistake; I bought two sets of headphones off a guy. It wasn’t for the shop, or for resale, or anything like that.

“I want to state that I didn’t know they were stolen.”

Michael explained that when police visited him about the incident, he ‘put his hands up’ straight away.

Three days later, he was hit with an application to review the premises licence.

Michael said: “I do my best to uphold my licence. I’ve been here for 12 years, and I’ve never had any issues with the police over my alcohol sales or licensing.

“I make one mistake and they come down on me like this. The licensing people are very hard on shop owners too.”

In the 12 years that Michael has owned the shop in St Michael’s Road, he says he has done all he can to support police, comply with his licence and reduce crime in the area.

He told the Daily Echo: “St Michael’s Road has been rife for drugs for years. When I first took over this shop, people were selling drugs outside my front door.

“I’ve always worked with the police. I give them everything they need. I do not serve people that are on drink or drugs, I am strict with ID.

“I’m worried about my licence. If they take my licence, I have no business.”

Sergeant Gareth Gosling, of the drug and alcohol harm reduction team at Dorset Police, said: “Investigative work by officers had indicated that this premises was reportedly purchasing goods that were known to be stolen.

"This matter remains the subject of an ongoing investigation and we are unable to go into any further details at this time."

The review application is yet to be determined and will remain open for public consultation until January 2, 2024.