West Midlands Restaurant Owners Fined | Health & Food Hygiene
The owners of a West Midlands based restaurant were recently fined at Wolverhampton Magistrates’ Court as the consequence of a number of food hygiene breaches.
Amandeep Murria of Kangs Solicitors comments.
The Circumstances
Food Safety Inspectors discovered a number of significant health risks including the following:
- the floors and walls were dirty,
- cooking equipment was found to be unclean,
- an open bottle of milk was found in the fridge which was almost two weeks out of
date.
At the relevant time the restaurant was given a zero star health rating but has recently achieved a five star rating.
The Court Proceedings
At the Hearing, the owners pleaded guilty to nine food hygiene offences and the Court imposed the following penalties:
- fines amounting to £1,140 and costs of £1,173.20.
- surcharges of £112.
After the hearing, Councilor Nicolas Barlow, was quoted to have said:
‘However, in certain cases, prosecution is the only option in our bid to ensure people are protected when eating out in the Dudley borough and we have a zero tolerance of zero hygiene ratings.
It is pleasing to see that lessons have been learnt and that this restaurant is now achieving the top food hygiene rating.
Nearly half of all food outlets in the borough are achieving the top hygiene rating of 5 and the vast majority achieve a satisfactory rating of 3 or more.
I would urge consumers to check out hygiene ratings online as these will give consumers a glimpse of what is going on in the kitchen when they eat out, or behind the scenes at the places they shop.’
How Can We Help?
As is clear from the case above, the Courts are not afraid to impose large fines in recognition of the serious threat to public health that unhygienic and unsafe operations pose.
Our specialist solicitors are able to provide advice and assistance throughout the entire criminal process.
Who Can I Contact For Help?
Please feel free to contact our team through any of our solicitors named below who will be happy to provide you with some initial advice and assistance.
Suki Randhawa
srandhawa@kangssolicitors.co.uk
0121 449 9888 | 020 7936 6396 | 07989 521210
John Veale
jveale@kangssolicitors.co.uk
0121 449 9888 | 07989 521210
