its long fight to secure a liquor licence.

The Liquor Licensing Authority granted the store a full liquor licence for its Warwick supermarket.

Giant Foods has been battling with objectors over its application, and on October 26 this year it received a provisional licence to sell liquor.

Despite the arduous and costly process, Giant Foods president Mr. George Whitecross said the licensing system produced a good result.

"This has been a long, bitter battle, and a rough, uphill climb. Lots of times I felt singled out,'' he told The Royal Gazette .

"I would not like to see any future liquor licence applicants go through what I went through. Our store's sales area is better controlled and will prohibit theft and under-age access.'' The battle against Giant Foods was carried largely by Warwick Academy, which is located almost directly across from the supermarket. The school fought to limit the accessibility of liquor to its students.

Its main demand was the construction of a sales booth separate from the general sales floor.

Mr. Alan Dunch, the store's lawyer, told the Authority that the store had completed construction of a liquor sales booth, and that Police had been satisfied with its security.

The Authority chairperson agreed and said: "I have seen the area myself and it's ideal. I only wish all the grocery stores had the same security precautions.'' The full licence stipulated that Giant Foods comply with four conditions requested by Warwick Academy. They included: Liquor sales be restricted to a separate area of the store with its own cashier; A prominent sign saying proof of age and identification may be required for liquor purchases; Taking all reasonable steps to prevent the sale of liquor to under-age or undesirable people or "any student of Warwick Academy''; and Immediate reporting of any attempted liquor purchase by a Warwick Academy student to the Headmaster of the school.

In addition, the Authority prohibited the store from selling miniatures, individual chilled bottles or chilled wine coolers.

After yesterday's decision, Mr. Whitecross said: "This has been going on ever since we took over the store two and a half years ago.

"At times I felt I was wrongly done, but now all I want to do is get on with the business and continue to provide `one-stop' shopping.