Eastbourne Borough Council licensing panel is due to consider a review application linked to Zap — an off-licence in Seaside Road, which is licensed for the retail sale of alcohol between 8am and midnight, seven days a week.
The application had been submitted by East Sussex Trading Standards in March. In it, it says Hamza Pirot, who is the business’s director and premises licence holder, has been convicted of “offences relating to the sale of overcapacity e-cigarettes”.
Trading Standards says its officers visited the store in April 2023 and discovered 314 “illegal vapes”. It says Mr Pirot was issued a warning letter.
Trading standards says officers conducted an inspection in April 2024 and “1,866 illegal vapes were discovered within the premises”.
It says 33 were in a plastic bag on the shop counter and 1,833 in a basement store. Trading Standards says the vapes found in the basement “included the same brands as found by the counter”.
In the application, a Trading Standards spokesman said: “Mr Pirot was formally interviewed denying any offences. He claimed that the items had been in the store prior to the April 2023 inspection and that his London-based supplier had refused to take them back and issue a refund.
“He blamed the discovery of the illegal items found by the sale counter on a former employee who had taken them upstairs from the basement by mistake.
“Mr Pirot was summonsed to the magistrates’ court in December 2024. He continued to deny the offences at several subsequent court appearances and even challenged the legality of the seized items.
“This necessitated the expert forensic analysis of several samples to prove that they were over capacity and therefore illegal. The court issued bail conditions preventing the personal sale of any vape products by Mr Pirot anywhere in the UK.”
The spokesman added: “On 23rd February 2026, Mr Pirot appeared at Brighton Magistrates’ Court where he maintained his not guilty plea. Following a short trial, he was convicted of all offences before the court.”
Mr Pirot has expressed a desire to make improvements.
In a statement submitted in response to the application, he said: “I take my responsibilities very seriously, including preventing underage sales, maintaining public safety, and following all licensing conditions.
“I am willing to cooperate fully and make any improvements necessary.”
The hearing is expected to take place at 6pm on Monday, May 11 at Eastbourne Town Hall.
The agenda for the hearing was published the same week as the Tobacco and Vapes Bill received Royal Assent.
This new legislation is expected to result in the introduction of a new licensing scheme, which will eventually require businesses to hold a licence to sell vapes and tobacco products.
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