A RESTAURANT owner who failed to act on repeated warnings about its dirty kitchen has been hit with a £1,015 court bill.
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Mark Bradley, prosecuting for City of York Council, said it first told York Tandoori to clean up its act on October 26, 2009.
It sent other warnings to the restaurant in Mansion House, Lowther Street, York, for the next 18 months. But on February 3, 2011, food inspectors found a greasy and dirty kitchen and other food hygiene problems, including a staff toilet that opened straight off the kitchen and inadequate hand washing facilities.
It also stored high risk food at too high a temperature.
Dudu Miah, 53, of Maple Grove, Fulford, pleaded guilty to six breaches of food hygiene regulations and was ordered to pay £600 in fines, a £15 victim surcharge and £400 prosecution costs.
Senior magistrate Hilary Fairwood said “These problems persisted for a long period of time.”
Defence solicitor Julian Tanikal says Miah no longer owns the restaurant or has any role in its management but now works at it as a cashier and part-time waiter. The restaurant had carried out a deep clean since the visit.
Mr Bradley said the restaurant still needed to do improvements including creating a space between the toilet and the kitchen.
Mr Tanikal said Miah took over the restaurant after the death of his brother round about the end of 2009 and beginning of 2010. But the bereavement led to him having depression, on top of other medical problems including diabetes. He was therefore not as much at the restaurant as he should have been.
“He has taken his hand off the tiller of what is effectively a sole trader business,” said Mr Tanikal. “It was not a deliberate attempt to save money or make a commercial profit by evading regulations. It was rather a lapse due to other reasons over a period of time.”
Since he had relinquished control following the inspectors’ visit, the restaurant had taken on a new chef and changed two other members of kitchen staff.
Source: The York Press
