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£12,000
In Restaurant Fines After Spot Check
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An
unannounced spot check by council food safety officers on an
Oldham
restaurant has resulted in hefty fines for the owner and his company.
Rochdale
magistrates imposed a £2,800 fine on owner Jilad Miah and one of
£9,600 on his company, which owns the Suhag Indian Cuisine restaurant.
Miah, aged 32,
of Ward Street, Oldham and the company pleaded guilty to 14 counts of
contravening the Food Safety Act of 1990.
Magistrates
were told the rear corridor, the refrigeration room, a stairway, the
pot wash room, the kitchen and the bathroom were dirty.
There was no
soap or towel provided for the hand washbasin, refrigeration units
were dirty inside and out with grime or dried blood and food
containers and shelving for storage of spices were dirty.
Cigarette ends
and packets were found on the floor of the cellar and cigarette ends
in the refrigeration. In the rear yard the drains were exposed
because of a missing drain cover.
Passing
sentence, chairman of the bench Gerald Neary said: "It has not
been an easy decision to come to because technically you were only in
charge of the company for just over a month, but we need to emphasise
the work being done by the council to protect the public by
inspecting these premises and reflect the serious nature when it
comes to the potential infection of people using the premises.
"When you
purchased the company you also purchased the liability because of a
breakdown in hygiene rules over the previous year."
Miss Janine
Wolstenholme, for the council, said the defendant had been extremely
helpful and co-operative when questioned by the local authority and
did not seek to make excuses.
The court
heard the catalogue of offences which centred on the dirty condition
of the restaurant.
Gordon Haigh,
defending, said his client had been involved with the restaurant for
three years and became sole owner in January 2005.
The premises
were inspected by the council on 3 March that year in an unannounced
spot check. Miah was in the process of completely refurbishing the
premises. There had been a phonemenal change to the premises as a
result of his client spending £100,000 on the business. His
client had been on food and hygiene and health and safety courses.
A chef who had
been disposing of cigarette butts in a disused tandoori oven was
sacked on the spot and the owner was now running a strict no smoking policy.
A new
stainless steel fridge and shelving had been introduced. He was in
the firm belief that public health was of paramount importance.
Allan Watson,
food safety manager with the council, said after the court hearing:
"We are pleased that the court has taken this case so seriously.
"While we
will always try to work with local food businesses we will not
hestiate to take action if the public is being put at risk."
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