A shop owner has lost his alcohol licence after sniffer dogs found illicit booze and tobacco worth thousands in a hidden store room.

Both Deansbrook Supermarket and H&S International Foods in Deansbrook Road, Burnt Oak, were investigated by a joint operation from Barnet Council, HM Revenue and Customs and the police.

The two shops, whose licences were both held by Kishan Hirani, were found to have 14,000 cigarettes, 12kg of tobacco and over 100 litres of wine and spirits hidden away.

None of the items had UK duty paid on them, with their value estimated between £3,000 and £4,000.

Mr Hirani, who claimed to have bought the items from a “white van man”, had his licence for Deansbrook Supermarket revoked by the council’s licensing sub-committee on September 14 last year.

Before a hearing to consider the licence for H&S could take place on December 16, Mr Hirani surrendered his licence for the premise.

However, he has appealed the revocation of Deansbrook Supermarket’s licence and can trade alcohol at the premises until the outcome of the appeal is decided.

Chair of the council’s environment committee Cllr Dean Cohen said: “In this case the licence holder showed a blatant disregard for licensing regulations.

“Anyone attempting to sell alcohol and tobacco in this way can expect to be caught and for action to be taken against them.

“If the origin of alcohol or tobacco isn’t known, there is always a risk it could be counterfeit and potentially be hazardous to health.”