AN off licence in Kensington, popular among street drinkers, has been banned from selling alcohol - bringing some cheer to fed up local residents.

Liverpool City Council’s Alcohol and Tobacco Unit brought the action against Kenny Food and Wine in Kensington which, it says, repeatedly sold booze to drunk people.

The move follows repeated complaints from local residents who reported street drinkers hanging around outside causing a nuisance, using a nearby alleygate as a toilet and littering the area with empty cans and bottle.

On one occasion, the council says, a man was found unconscious opposite the premises with two half empty sherry bottles which were believed to have been sold to him by Kenny Food and Wine.

To try to curb the problem, council officials and police visited the shop asking staff to refrain from selling single cans of super strength alcohol, and to become a member of the Alcohol Watch scheme.

Despite joining Alcohol Watch, evidence gathered later from single cans found strewn nearby showed they had been sold by Kenny Food and Wine.

The store was found to be failing to meet its licensing obligations under Prevention of Public Nuisance.

News of the closure was welcomed by Steve Faragher of community campaign group Kensingtonvision - but he said it didn't go far enough to tackling the serious problem of alcohol abuse in Kensington.

"It is about  time, now just get rid of the other 30 places that sell cheap rot-brain booze," he told Liverpool Confidential.

"We put an objection in when they were issued with the licence and were told that the frequency of current off licences wasn't grounds to stop the licence being granted. Kensingtonvision has been at the centre of pressuring councillors into taking action, and now we are beginning to see the fruition of our efforts paying off, benefiting the area and other poorer wards which have the same problems."

Councillor Steve Munby, Cabinet member for neighbourhoods, said: “We had received many complaints from local residents about Kenny Food and Wine causing antisocial behaviour and being a blight on the area.

“Despite repeated warnings, they were continuing to sell alcohol to people with a drink problem and those who were already drunk.

“This irresponsible behaviour could not be tolerated any longer and the revoking of the licence is good news for the local community.”