A New Malden newsagent could lose its licence over an illegal worker.

Police and Home Office immigration officers visited Ayngaran Food and Wine in Burlington Road in June, and found a Sri Lankan man working alone in the shop.

Checks by officers  found the man was working there illegally, in breach of his immigration status. 

A report by a Kingston Council environmental health manager said licence holder Thambirajah Vaseekharan, who arrived later, at first denied the man worked at the shop, before admitting he "helped out".

Three letters of representation have been received, two in support of the store, and one calling for the shop's alcohol license to be revoked. 

Councillors will decide the shop's fate at a meeting in the Guildhall on Tuesday, August 26, at 10.30am.