Essex pub fined £1,000 for food hygiene breaches
A licensee has been fined £1,000 after pleading guilty to 23 breaches of food hygiene law.
Nicholas Marchetto, tenant at the Rose and Crown in Thaxted, near Dunmore in Essex, was taken to court by Uttlesford District Council, following an inspection by environmental health officers in December last year.
Harlow Magistrates' Court ordered Marchetto to pay the £1,000 fine, as well as 1,000 towards the council's costs and a £15 victim charge.
Twelve offences were under the General Food Regulations 2004; seven under the Food Hygiene Regulations 2006 and four under the Food Labelling Regulations 1996.
As well as being fined £1,000, Marchetto was also ordered to pay £1,000 towards the council's costs and a £15 victim charge.
The surprise inspection found the kitchen and equipment were in such a bad condition that EHOs considered ordering the immediate closure of the kitchen, but Marchetto volunteered to close it himself.
EHOs found 190 items of mouldy, slimy, putrescent or expired foodstuffs, which were removed by the council. Officers also found that there was no running hot water in the kitchen, preventing the proper cleaning of hands or equipment in violation of food hygiene regulations.
The kitchen at the Rose and Crown will remain closed until it is brought up to an acceptable standard.
Geoff Smith, head of environmental health, said: "Uttlesford District Council regards prosecution for food hygiene offences as a very significant step and the last option available to it when encouragement, education and warnings have failed to achieve a satisfactory level of legal compliance.
"Our environmental health officers will always seek to work with the proprietors of food businesses to secure the necessary improvements before it resorts to formal action."
He added that conditions at the Rose and Crown were "totally unacceptable" in a food business.
"The large quantity of food unfit for human consumption on the premises had placed public health at risk.
"Where offences of such magnitude are identified, this authority will not hesitate to take legal proceedings to secure compliance and ensure the safety of the consumer."
