Mr Hoi Shan Leung, owner of the ‘Fortune Cookie’ takeaway at 52 Coombe Road, Kingston upon Thames, was prosecuted by Kingston Council’s Environmental Health & Trading Standards Department on the 14 February 2012 for 7 offences under food safety legislation, including failure to keep the premises clean and in good repair and failure to control pests including rodents.
 |
| [relatedPosts title=”Related Posts”] |
|
|
Officers found a defective ceiling shedding dirt onto the food preparation area, rat bait boxes and rat droppings on an already dirty floor in the storage area. Dirt was also found around electrical fittings and under the cooker.
Following complaints about alleged food poisoning outbreaks, Environmental Health officers visited the premises and served 11 Hygiene Improvement Notices on Mr Leung. Despite repeated visits by Environmental Health Officers, many of these were not complied with and the business closed voluntarily for improvements to be made. When Officers returned in June 2011 little or no action to improve conditions in his premise had been taken.
Mr Leung pleaded guilty to all 7 offences contrary to regulation 17 of the Food Hygiene (England) Regulations 2006. He was not legally represented. In mitigation, Mr. Leung said that he was refurbishing the premises. He confirmed he was still trading, had taken responsibility, had changed the system and had implemented a cleaning rota. After consideration, the Magistrates’ sentenced Mr Leung to a £500 fine for each offence making a total fine of £3,500, with costs of £1760.46 and a Victim Surcharge of £15, making a total of £5,275.46.
Councillor Simon James, Executive Member for Environmental Health and Trading Standards said; “Kingston Council wants to ensure that all food premises are as hygienic as reasonably possible at all times. Enforcement action will be taken in unacceptable instances such as in this case. Food premises will be visited to ensure that good standards are achieved and we publicise the hygiene ratings from these visits via the Council website so that residents and visitors can make informed choices on where to eat”.
.
