Westminster City Council has declared war on US-style candy and souvenir stores that are failing to pay business rates or selling illegal or unsafe goods.

The council says there are 26 sweet and souvenir shops on Oxford Street which collectively owe around £9m in unpaid business arrears.

Hundreds of thousands of pounds in arrears have been recovered through court action, but the often secretive ownership structure of the sweet store and souvenir shop owners makes this challenging.

Trading standards officers have also impounded £1m in goods over the past 15 months, ranging from vapes many times the UK legal limit in strength to counterfeit designer brands. In one case, the council seized more than 2,000 fake Wonka bars.

Council leader Adam Hug has written to 19 property groups, whose properties house 26 US sweet stores or souvenir shops along Oxford Street, asking them to stop letting agents leasing empty properties to these shops.

Cllr Hug wrote: ‘The recent rise of these shops is diminishing the value of our local high streets both financially and reputationally – they risk the recovery of the West End, and the value of your property...this damaging situation has gone on long enough, and we are asking you to do all that you can to bring it to an end.

‘This has carried on for too long, and we are considering all options available to us to ensure that those enabling these businesses to thrive selling unsafe goods and destroying our high streets are persuaded to address this issue in whatever way they can.’

Mary Patel, networks manager from the Fair Tax Foundation, commented: ‘Business rate and other tax evasion makes it harder for businesses that pay their fair share to compete on a level playing field, and deprives communities of funding for vital public services.

‘Westminster City Council should be commended for pioneering the fight against dirty money, and for fair tax, in their local area. We stand with the council in calling for robust identity verification for anyone registering a UK company, and better resourcing for Companies House.’

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