Pub operator fined £6,000 for dodgy vodka
A pub operator has been fined more than £6,000 for selling vodka laced with an industrial chemical.
Trading Standards officers found tertiary butyl alcohol - normally found in white spirit - being served at the Garrick pub in Stockton-on-Tees.
Surrey-based Nestway Limited admitted four breaches of the Food Safety Act at Teesside Magistrates Court.
According to the BBC the court heard that the quantities used did not pose a risk to health.
Tests carried out during an inspection uncovered the traces of the chemical.
An investigation revealed a box of vodka had been supplied by an unknown dealer.
The company said it had only been used in the one pub and improved systems had been introduced to prevent a similar occurrence.
David Kitching, Stockton Council's trading standards and licensing manager, said: "This should act as a warning to other traders who are tempted to buy from unknown traders who tout cheap spirits door to door to save a few pounds."
The firm was fined £5,000 and ordered to pay £1,150 costs.
