Filthy restaurant told to pay £20k
A West London fast food restaurant where mouse droppings were found in the food preparation area has been ordered to pay nearly £20,000 after admitting a string of food hygiene offences.
Dirty floor at Chef's Corner
Chef's Corner, in Dawley Road, Hayes, and its director Mr Nirmal Pounj, aged 65, were prosecuted by Hillingdon Council after repeatedly ignoring warnings to improve the standard of cleanliness at the restaurant.
During a series of checks, environmental health officers discovered a number of problems, including a failure to remove old mouse droppings from the kitchen floor, surfaces and storage areas.
Staff were not washing their hands before touching customers' food and food was left in freezers that were not switched on.
The ceiling and walls in the food preparation area were covered in grease, and paint on the ceiling was peeling and dropping directly onto food preparation surfaces.
In January 2017 inspectors gave the restaurant a food hygiene rating of '0' - the lowest grading possible, meaning urgent improvement is required. However, despite extensive help and advice from the council's Food, Health and Safety team, conditions did not improve.
Appearing at Uxbridge Magistrates' Court on 21 August, Actmore Limited (operator of Chef's Corner) and its director Mr Pounj pleaded guilty to four offences including failing to put in place food safety procedures, failing to ensure staff were trained, failing to keep the premises clean and failing to put in place procedures to control pests.
The company was fined £12,000, Mr Pounj was fined £5,200 and they were jointly ordered to pay costs of £2,318.
Councillor Philip Corthorne, Cabinet Member for Social Services, Housing, Health and Wellbeing, said: "Environmental health officers spent a considerable amount of time and effort trying to help and advise Mr Pounj but in the end were left with no alternative but to take court action. We hope this sends a clear message to other businesses that we simply won't tolerate anything that puts residents in harm's way."
Anyone who has concerns about hygiene at a venue that prepares or serves food can contact the council's Food Health and Safety team or use the Food Standards Agency's online food problem report form
Find out whether a restaurant, takeaway or food shop you want to visit has good food hygiene via Food Standards Agency's ratings search engine.
http://www.hillingdon.gov.uk/article/32760/Filthy-restaurant-told-to-pay-20k read more