AFTER 15 years of trading in the centre of Footscray, Grant Miles could no longer stand by and watch the havoc wrought by alcohol abuse and public drunkenness on the streets of the inner west.

In a move that could cost him tens of thousands of dollars this year - but has been applauded by local police - Mr Miles has torn up his liquor licence and stopped selling alcohol at his discount grocery shop.

Mr Miles, who owns Cheaper Buy Miles in the mall section of Nicholson Street and is the president of the Footscray Traders Association, said he could no longer sell alcohol with a clear conscience while it was causing such damage to the community.

''I feel that in some small way I might have been contributing to problems of alcohol abuse in Footscray and the surrounding areas,'' he told The Age.