AN EAST End shop has had its licence revoked after police discovered it was selling smuggled booze. Police called for the Royal Duke Superstore in Commercial Road to have its 24-hour licence reviewed after officers found 153 bottles of illegally import

AN EAST End shop has had its licence revoked after police discovered it was selling smuggled booze.

Police called for the Royal Duke Superstore in Commercial Road to have its 24-hour licence reviewed after officers found 153 bottles of illegally imported wine on its shelves.

The bottles were seized during a joint operation in November between police, HM Revenue & Customs and Tower Hamlets Council's trading standards on four off-licences.

And officers discovered the owner of the Shadwell off-licence Rashmi Patel had managed to evade �269 in tax duty.

The store was granted a 24-hour licence by the council's Sub Licensing Committee in 2006, despite opposition from residents.

But neighbours living on the near-by Pitsea Estate, who also called for the licence to be revoked, claim that the off-licence has made their lives a misery and has become a "magnet for alcoholics and drug users".

The Pitsea Estate Tenants and Residents Association submitted a petition to the council, protesting against the sale of booze.

A spokeswoman said: "Several residents have suffered physical attack and drunken abuse from the drunken patrons of the Royal Duke.

"There has also been an increase in criminal damage on the estate as anti-social behaviour fuelled by drink from these premises has increased."

The council's Licensing Sub Committee agreed to revoke the store's license at its meeting last Tuesday.