The owner of Hoar Park restaurant at Ansley, John Lea, has been fined nearly £5,000 at Nuneaton Magistrates Court for food hygiene offences.
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During a route check in September 2012, North Warwickshire Borough Council’s Food Hygiene Inspector discovered a lack of accurate record keeping and food stored in the fridge past its use-by date. Fridge temperatures were above the legal limit, food had been decanted into plastic containers which were incorrectly labelled, whilst bacon, sausage, cooked ham and soup were out of date. A lasagne had been cooked, frozen and then defrosted but had no labelling at all.
The Food Hygiene Inspector then provided advice and information for Mr Lea to improve his record keeping and issued a formal Hygiene Improvement Notice which required him to provide and maintain a written food safety system. Mr Lea also received his Food Hygiene Rating Certificate which gave the Hoar Park premises a rating of 1 – Major Improvement Necessary.
A later visit in October showed that whilst some improvements had been made, record keeping was still erratic and fridge and freezer temperatures were still too high. Food was still being stored past its use by date, including high risk foods such as pate which can cause serious food poisoning. It appeared that Mr Lea, as the Food Business Operator, was not making regular checks on the state of the kitchens and on the day to day running of the business.
Assistant Chief Executive and Solicitor to the Council, Steve Maxey said:
” Mr Lea, as the Food Business Operator, was not making regular checks on the running of his business and had paid no heed to the Hygiene Improvement Notice issued after the inspection in September last year. There had been similar breaches of the Food Hygiene Regulations identified during previous inspections in 2009 and 2011 so Mr Lea was continuing to break the law and put the health of his customers at risk. ”
Mr Lea pleaded guilty to two charges of failing to put in place, implement and maintain a food safety management system and failing to comply with a Hygiene Improvement Notice. He was fined a total of £4876.73.
