The director of a company which ran a takeaway in Weston-super-Mare has been given a 12 month community order requiring 250 hours unpaid work and a six-month curfew after pleading guilty to a number of food safety offences.
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The offences related to an unannounced inspection of the Ocean Grill on Alexandra Parade in December last year by a North Somerset Council food safety officer. He found that there was a build up of dirt, grease and food throughout the premises. Raw meats were stored next to and on top of salads and cans of drinks allowing bacteria and blood to contaminate the food. Equipment was dirty and broken, the food handlers were untrained in food hygiene matters and a food worker handled raw meat and then handled salad containers without first washing his hands. The foods were not refrigerated adequately, no disinfection of work surfaces was carried out and a deep fat fryer had been placed in front of the gas safety cut off valve, preventing access in case of a fire.
The business owner, Servet Cicek the director of GEMO Ltd, the company operating the business had been visited on several occasions over the previous two years in attempts to help him improve the hygiene conditions in the business before court action was taken.
Mr Cicek pleaded guilty at North Somerset Magistrates Court on Friday 8 November to three offences for which he was personally liable and a further seven offences attributed to the company.
The court ordered him to carry out 250 hours of unpaid work in the community, a six-month curfew between 8pm and 6am at his home address in London, monitored through an electronic tag.
He was also ordered to pay the council’s costs of £2,658.92 as well as a victim surcharge of £60.
Welcoming the sentence, North Somerset Council’s executive member whose portfolio includes food safety, Cllr Peter Bryant, said: “We had been working with the premises to improve food and health procedures. However our spot check showed very poor hygiene and I am pleased we have successfully prosecuted. The public needs to have faith in the cleanliness and safety of food outlets. Anyone can check the food score a premises has by going to www.food.gov.uk and look at the food hygiene rating scheme.”
The premises is now under new management and is trading as Troy’s barbecue.
