1:09pm Thursday 11th March 2010
By Andy Carswell
A FAST food takeaway owner failed to control a flock of pigeons that were nesting on his High Wycombe premises, a court heard this week.
Bird faeces was found on the door handle to the chiller at the Roosters Piri Piri takeaway in Oxford Street by environmental health officers from Wycombe District Council.
Officers also found “inadequate” hand washing facilities and use-by date recording, food not being kept at the required temperatures, and drainage and water leaks into the kitchen when they visited the restaurant a number of times last year.
On Monday owner Khalid Mirza – who Roosters say no longer works for them – pleaded guilty to five breaches of food hygiene regulations when he appeared at Wycombe Magistrates' Court.
The charges related to Mirza's failure to ensure his staff maintained an acceptable level of personal hygiene, failure to control pests at the premises, failure to keep the food premises clean, failure to ensure that food was protected from contamination, and failure to implement and maintain a permanent documented food safety management system to address hazards.
Magistrates fined Mirza, who gave his address to the court as the restaurant, £11,000 and ordered him to pay costs of £1,913.60.
The charges were brought under the Food Hygiene (England) Regulations 2006 by Wycombe District Council.
Speaking after sentencing, the council's Deputy Leader Cllr Tony Green said: “Our environmental health team works to ensure that decent food hygiene standards are maintained in all establishments serving food to the public.
“We always try to resolve matters informally, but in some cases such as this one, where there has been a persistent failure to comply with food safety legislation, we have to take legal action.
“Failure to comply with Food Hygiene Regulations is a breach not only of the law, but also of the trust that local customers and visitors to our area place in food businesses across the district.
“People need to be able to trust that the food they are served has been stored and prepared in clean and safe conditions. We hope that this prosecution will send a clear message to all local food businesses that they cannot abuse that trust.”
A spokesman for Roosters said Mirza ceased working for the company “around a month ago”.
She added: “We've addressed all the issues raised. Anybody is welcome to view our store in its current state.”
The council added Roosters is now working closely with the environmental health teams to ensure the offences are not repeated.
Anyone with information which may help the Wycombe District Council environmental health team can contact them on 01494 421734 or environmental_health@wycombe.gov.uk.
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