FOUR shops in Keighley town centre that were found selling counterfeit tobacco will appeal a decision to strip them of their alcohol licenses.
In March, Bradford Council revoked the licence of five town centre shops following a two-day licensing hearing.
Councillors were told that a police and Trading Standards raid in late 2025 found the stores to be selling and storing large amounts of counterfeit tobacco.
Officers told the Licensing Panel that the businesses were involved in organised crime.
But four stores, European Food and Keighley Mini Market on North Street and Keighley Pound Plus and Wisla on Cavendish Street, have decided to appeal the decision of the licensing panel.
What will they say?
The businesses will argue before a court that the council made the wrong decision when they revoked the licences.
There was a brief court hearing on the matter at Bradford Magistrates Court on Friday afternoon.
Alias Yousaf, representing all four businesses, criticised the court process, pointing out that it had taken four months for the appeals to come to court.
The appeal hearings were adjourned until September 25, when magistrates will be given more details of the grounds of appeal, and who the businesses will call as witnesses.
What was found in the raids?
The Trading Standards raids all took place on December 9.
At European Foods, 900 packets of illegal cigarettes were found hidden in a trade waste bin behind the store.
The Licensing panel was told that there had been previous criminal incidents linked to the store in the past, and that the licence holder had shown a “consistent disregard for law and the licensing obligations placed on him.”
At Keighley Mini Market, a sniffer dog uncovered counterfeit tobacco hidden underneath the floor of the shop.
In total, 600 packets of illegal cigarettes in various hidden spaces in and outside the convenience store.
The panel were told the store was involved in “organised crime.”
Keighley Pound Plus was found to be selling counterfeit Labubu toys as well as knock off cigarettes.
During the raid, officers uncovered drawers filled with counterfeit cigarettes hidden behind pet food, and a sophisticated compartment that could be lowered from the ceiling, also containing contraband.
The panel was told the shop was the centre of “sustained criminal activity to sell illicit tobacco.”
The panel was told that Wisla had used an elaborate system of “indoor drainpipes” and CCTV to move illegal tobacco from an upper floor flat to a drawer on the shop floor, from which the contraband would “magically” appear when customers asked for cheaper products.
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