A corner shop in Oxfordshire which was accused of encouraging drug use has been slammed by hygiene inspectors.

Wantage Convenience Store opened in January 2023 in the old McColl’s building in Market Place but left residents concerned.

At the time of opening, the business said on Facebook: “We are a newly opened off-license store and a family business.

“We sell groceries, household items, alcohol and smoking items and specially requested items such as bonks, grinders, baggies and scales [sic].”

However, people criticised the store stating it was "encouraging drug use" in the town and the store then apologised for the “wording” of the post.

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Wantage Convenience Store opened in January of 2023.Wantage Convenience Store opened in January of 2023. (Image: Wantage Convenience Store)

Now a year-and-a-half on and the store has been visited by Vale of White Horse District Council’s Environmental Health team.

Inspectors were less than impressed during their visit on Friday, May 3, and stated the store required 'necessary improvement'. 

This resulted in the business being awarded a lowly two-out-of-five score with one major issue being the shop’s hygienic food handling.

This refers to the preparation, cooking, re-heating, cooling and storage of food with the report stating that improvement was ‘necessary’.

The cleanliness and condition of both the facilities and the building were then rated as ‘generally satisfactory’.

This includes having an appropriate layout, ventilation, hand washing facilities and pest control to enable good food hygiene.

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Wantage Convenience Store’s management of food safety was also given the same rating following the snap inspection by the environmental health team.

This refers to whether there is a system or checks in place to ensure that food sold or served at the venue is safe to eat.

It also concerns whether there is evidence that staff know about food safety and if the food safety officer has confidence that standards will be maintained in future.

The shop also made headlines last year when it was slammed for overcharging the price of a popular hydration drink.

Wantage Convenience Store was criticised for charging £9.99 for the drink which usually sells for £2 per bottle.

KSI and fellow influencer Logan Paul created the brand and it has been extremely popular and hard to purchase due to demand in recent years.

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Residents accused the shop of promoting dugs use.Residents accused the shop of promoting dugs use. (Image: Newsquest)

The creators of Prime themselves have said it is ‘frustrating’ seeing the price of bottles increase.

Speaking to BBC Newsbeat, KSI said: "I genuinely, I hate it. I hate the reselling. I hate it. I want everyone to have Prime at a reasonable price."

The Oxford Mail approached Wantage Convenience Store on the new hygiene rating but the shop did not wish to comment.

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