Food Safety

The owner was told to conduct a deep clean of the restaurant following an inspection by Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council Environmental Health Officers in October last year.

The inspection was carried out with the co-operation of the manager of the premises. The unacceptable level of hygiene and poor state of cleanliness immediately became apparent, with grease, dirt and food debris on walls, floors, doors and pipework.

Equipment in contact with food, including the fridge, pizza topping display, microwave oven, chest freezer and food preparation tables, was also not kept clean or disinfected.

In addition there were no systems for managing food safety or monitoring critical food safety matters such as cooking and fridge temperatures.

The owner pleaded guilty to four offences under the Food Hygiene (England) Regulations 2006 at Teesside magistrates’ court on 17 May.

The bench fined the owner £200 for each offence. He was ordered to pay costs of £969.60, along with a £15 surcharge, a total of £1,784.60. He was warned the fine would have been higher had he not pleaded guilty at the first opportunity.

The cabinet member for housing and community safety, said: ‘The owner was accepting substandard hygiene standards, with little regard to his customers' health.

‘People have a right to enjoy their food in safety and the Council will take action to ensure food operators observe the law.’