A SUPERMARKET in Tonbridge could be banned from selling alcohol after it was caught supplying it to youngsters.

Lidl, in Quarry Hill Road, faces becoming the first venue in the borough to have its premises licence revoked for selling wine to a 16-year-old in a Trading Standards sting in September.

It was previously caught out in a similar operation in January 2007 when a 15 and 16-year-old were served four cans of Becks lager.

The German-owned store declined to comment about the forthcoming hearing before Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council licensing bosses on Tuesday.

But in an application for the review by Richard Strawson of Trading Standards, it stated the shop needed to be looked at to "protect children from harm".

A report on the Lidl store revealed that in February 2010 Trading Standards received reports that adults were buying alcohol from the store which was then being passed on to children.

At a community meeting in June last year Trading Standards was also told by residents about groups of youths who were regularly drinking at Tonbridge Racecourse Sportsground.

In September 2010 Trading Standards officers visited Lidl, as part of a town-wide crackdown, and found the shop had no refusals book detailing who had been denied alcohol and when.

Lidl's duty manager Spen cer Kenward also told officers that it was not his company's policy to challenge people who looked under 25, instead only asking for ID when they looked under 21.

He was given an under-age sales advice pack and warned, in writing, to challenge everyone who looked under 25.

Despite all this, and just 17 days after that visit, staff sold a bottle of red wine to a 16-year-old girl who was working on behalf of Trading Standards on September 23.

Mr Strawson said: "It is requested that certain conditions be added to the premises' licence in order to assist with the future prevention of the sale of alcohol to persons under the age of 18."

He said it wanted the shop to introduce a firm Challenge 25 policy and introduce a refusals register which should be checked on a weekly basis.

Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council will have six options when deciding the fate of Lidl.

It may decide to modify the conditions on the licence, exclude a licensable activity from the scope of the licence, or remove the designated premises supervisor.

Alternatively it could suspend the licence for up to three months, revoke it completely, or choose to dismiss the application for the review.