THE future of a shop in Brynmawr is being considered by the local authority after it was investigated for employing an illegal worker.

A Home Office immigration enforcement team visited the GV Supermarket on September 27 last year alongside a Blaenau Gwent licensing officer.

Upon entry to the shop, on King Street, a man found to have overstayed his visa was arrested and later interviewed by an official.

According to a Home Office report, the man said that he had been working at the supermarket for four months.

The man had helped in the shop for three to four days a week, helping to unload vans, stack shelves and sometimes serve customers.

He was paid approximately £700 a month by the shop owner and licensee, Gurjant Singh, who had allowed him to help and produced his visa.

GV Supermarket were fined £7,000 on October 31 2017, with the Home Office applying for a review of the premises’ licence by Blaenau Gwent council in February.

Earlier this month an email was sent from the Home Office to the council which read: “We still wish to proceed with the review as the licensing objectives are not being met by the premises licence holder and we believe that (Mr Singh) was aware of the illegal working.”

The shop has had a premises licence since December 2016.

In accordance with the Licensing Act 2003, an application notice was displayed at the shop for 28 days after the enforcement visit to allow residents and businesses to make representations.

The local authority’s licensing subcommittee will now consider the licence review application at a meeting on Tuesday April 3.

Members will have the options to remove Mr Singh as the designated premises supervisor, suspend the licence for a period of up to three months, or revoke it completely.

They can also make changes to the conditions of the licence, remove a licensable activity from the scope of the licence, or take no action at all.