A SOUTHAMPTON shopkeeper has had his licence suspended after selling booze to a teenager while under the influence of alcohol.

Kamalnayn Patel apologised for "making a mistake" when he sold four cans of lager to the 16-year-old at Hatchers Card Shop this year.

Police had called for him to have his licence removed after recording forward a number of other occasions when he had been "drunk on duty" at the shop in High Road.

But licensing chiefs decided to be lenient with him after hearing his remorse and that he had given up drinking, and have instead suspended his licence for two weeks.

The most serious incident happened in April this year when police sent a 16-year-old test purchaser in alongside a 15-year-old to buy four cans of Carlsberg.

Although Mr Patel challenged the teenager, who was unable to produce any ID, he still sold him the alcohol.

Police visited the shop soon after and saw an open can of alcohol behind the till while cigarettes behind the counter had been left exposed, which is against the law.

In their report the police said he had been "under the influence of alcohol and was in fact drunk", describing his behaviour as "odd" and saying that he "couldn't speak properly and wasn't able to understand what we were trying to tell him".

In their licence review, which was supported by Trading Standards, police also recorded a number of other incidents, going back to October 2011, when officers believed he was under the influence while working at the shop.

During the hearing Mr Patel said even small quantities of alcohol? can have an impact on him due to diabetes while stress and tiredness may also have contributed to his condition.

He told the meeting: "I can have a little bit of drink like that and I am drunk.

"Even a little bit of drink affects me straight away."

Saying he had since given up drinking, he added: "I made a mistake, it's never happened before and it's never going to happen again.

"It was a genuine mistake and I accept full responsibility and I am very sorry about that."

Friend Raymond Mintram, who works at the shop, spoke in support of Mr Patel, describing him as a "pillar of the community", while some other residents had written in support of him.

Mr Patel said he had already installed CCTV at the premises - a condition recommended by the police if the licence was not revoked.

And at a hearing licensing chiefs decided to suspend the licence for two weeks, and impose an order for more training of staff selling alcohol at the store and the maintenance of a refusals log and incident book.

Saying the city council's licensing committee had "grave concerns" over the sale of alcohol, chairman Matt Tucker told Mr Patel: "The committee must reiterate how close it came to revoking the licence on this occasion and any other incidents of concern will place the licence under jeopardy."

But he said the suspension would act as a "deterrent", saying the committee had taken into account Mr Patel's soberness since the review was launched and his remorse.