A restaurant owner whose premises were found to be infested by mice has been fined following a successful prosecution by Amber Valley Borough Council.
This case concerned four separate breaches of the Food Hygiene (England) Regulations 2006, affecting the food business premises at the Peacock Hotel, Chesterfield Road, Oakerthorpe, Derbyshire.
The four charges against Martin Gifford, the food business operator of the premises, were: (1) failing to keep food premises clean and maintained in good repair and condition, (2) failing to have adequate procedures in place to control pests, (3) failing to ensure that the layout, design, construction, siting and size of food premises permits good hygiene practices in particular with regard to pest control, and (4) failing to implement their food safety management system.
He pleaded guilty to all four charges at Southern Derbyshire Magistrates’ Court at Ilkeston on 29 October 2007. He was fined a total of £10,000 - £2,500 for each offence, and ordered to pay £2,666.59 in costs.
Steve Haslam, Food Safety Manager at Amber Valley Borough Council said “We were first alerted to a potential problem at the Peacock Hotel back in September 2006, after receiving two complaints from members of the public stating that they had seen mice in the restaurant areas. Upon visiting the premises we found the food preparation areas and storage areas were dirty and not in a suitable condition to be serving food to members of the public.
“Mr Gifford did not have an adequate cleaning schedule and meals were left out at room temperature for too long. There was also substantial evidence of mouse infestation.”
Mr Gifford said he would voluntarily close the premises until the Council was satisfied that he could re-open. It was only after a further four inspections during the following week that the Council’s environmental health officers were satisfied that the premises had been cleaned to a satisfactory standard and there was no visible evidence of mice or droppings.
“A prosecution for this case was necessary in the public interest due to the imminent health risk posed to members of the public by the state of the premises and the mouse infestation” continued Mr Haslam. “However, a prosecution is invariably a last resort in situations such as this. We encourage businesses to seek advice from us if they have any issues regarding compliance with food safety legislation. Where businesses continually fail to comply, as was the case with the Peacock Hotel, we will not hesitate in taking appropriate enforcement action to protect the public.”
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For further information please contact Lisa Garnham, PR and Communications Manager at Amber Valley Borough Council, on 01773 841655.
