A TAKEAWAY owner whose shop was shut down last year following a rat infestation has become the first ever in Reading to be banned from managing a food business.
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Faisal Altaf, who owned Kings Chicken, 85 Kings Road, was also fined £3,666, including costs, for a total of 19 offences under the food hygiene regulations, at a Reading Magistrates Court hearing on June 5.
The court heard that Mr Altaf had been given several opportunities to keep his house in order, but failed to do so.
National figures show around 15 prohibition orders are issued each year across the whole country. This prohibition order is the first ever taken by Reading Borough Council.
In September last year a telephone call was received by the Council from a member of the public stating that they had seen a member of staff in a restaurant in Reading brushing a rat out of their premises. When Environmental Health Officers visited, they discovered an active rat infestation, dirty food containers and surfaces, poor structural finishes and lack of an adequate food safety management system. Staff had not received adequate food hygiene training and were not being adequately supervised.
The takeaway was closed down as it posed an imminent risk of injury to the health of customers. Environmental Health Officers allowed the premises to re-open again on September 25th 2012, when they were satisfied remedial works to remove the imminent risk of injury to health had been carried out.
Mr Faisal Altaf had also been successfully prosecuted by the Council on 17th September 2009 and fined £1,400 for failure to implement the requirements of a food safety management system. The premises had a poor history of food safety and has had a maximum food hygiene rating of 1 since it opened in 2006. The business has now ceased trading.
Paul Gittings, Reading Borough Council’s Lead Member for Consumer Services, said: “This banning order is a first for us in Reading. Whilst the vast majority of food outlets are responsible, here is an example of a repeat offender who did not appear to take those responsibilities seriously. I congratulate the environmental health team in Reading for a job well done.”
