A liquor licence was granted to a Hamilton Parish grocer yesterday in Magistrates? Court.

Tony?s Fine Foods, on North Shore Road, received a Restriction A Licence.

The licence had previously been rejected by the Liquor Licensing Board.

Lawyer Richard Hector told the court that the liquor would be separated from the food section in the shop.

?I understand that the licence was rejected because there was a problem years ago, but the problem has disappeared entirely,? said Mr. Hector.

?We had had no objections.?

Mr. Hector went on to say that there were no shops in the area that sold liquor and there was a demand for it.

Mr. Hector applied for a notice of abandonment of the appeal and explained, that the store was applying for a restricted licence, which would allow the store to sell only warm beer in six packs, wine and no hard liquor.

The store owner would also have to make sure that liquor isn?t being purchased by underage drinkers.

Acting Senior Magistrate Carlisle Greaves said: ?We have considered the licence and are granting a Restriction A licence for beer and wine.?

After the hearing, store owner Tony Esposito said the licence does not allow the shop to sell any hard liquor.

He said: ?We are a small grocery store and we can only sell warm beer, no singles and wine.

?They turned us down before, but I guess they decided to give us a chance to prove ourselves.?