Sandwich shop fined over dead mice

10:26am Monday 3rd September 2007

A sandwich shop owner has been ordered to pay £2,600 after dead mice were found in his premises.

Geoffrey Keen, of Munchers Foods Limited in Mile Oak Road, Portslade, admitted eight food hygiene breaches at Brighton Magistrates' Court, after live mice, rat droppings and a fly infestation were found, along with the dead rodents.

Keen was fined £1,600 for food hygiene offences and ordered to pay £1,000 in costs to Brighton and Hove City Council, which brought the prosecution against the company that prepared and distributed sandwiches to about 100 shops in the area.

Len Batten, prosecuting, said environmental health officer Glenn Boughen visited the business on April 4 and found a catalogue of poor health practices, as well as risks of contamination of the food.

Problems included overflowing bins, dead mice and mice and rat droppings, a soiled toilet and damaged flooring and walls.

There were no methods of preventing fly infestations, which were present in the building.

Keen had previously been advised by a pest control company over the infestation but had failed to heed the warning.

After the visit by the officer, Keen shut his businesses until April 24 for extensive cleaning work.

He reopened but problems with the business mean he is no longer trading.

He had taken over the firm a year before and told the court he did not realise the problems that could arise from preparing food. He admitted he had been naive.

Sentencing him, magistrates said the offences were down to his stupidity and that he had put the public at risk.

Geoffrey Theobald, chairman of the council's environment committee, said after the case: "These sorts of conditions will not be tolerated at food outlets in the city and the public can be assured the city council will not hesitate to prosecute where necessary.

"People will soon be able to check out food hygiene standards of local businesses at a glance, under a new scores on the doors' scheme being introduced by the council's food safety team. From October 1, all restaurants, hotels, cafés and catering outlets in the city will be required to display a food hygiene rating."

The information will also be available at www.brighton-hove.gov.uk/ foodsafety from that date.

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