A Bath convenience store has been ordered to pay £19,932 after being prosecuted by Bath & North East Somerset Council for offences breaching food safety rules.
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Bath Magistrates Court heard on 23 May that the company had breached Food Safety legislation in relation to a rat infestation found at the Martin McColls Store on Argyle Street, Bath, on 26 September 2011.
The company Martin McColls pleaded guilty to four charges:
- Failing to protect food from contamination that would make it unreasonable to be consumed in that state
- Failing to supply materials for cleaning and drying hands at the wash hand basin
- Failing to keep a food premises clean
- Failing to keep premises maintained in good repair and condition.
The Court heard that at an Environmental Health officer from Bath & North East Somerset Council carried out an unannounced food hygiene inspection on 26 September 2011.
The officer found evidence of an on-going rat infestation with pest droppings in food storerooms, and holes to walls and floors in these areas where rats had got in. The premises were found to be in a very poor state of cleanliness, with dirty floors and rubbish accumulating.
The officer also found chocolate bars with evidence of gnaw marks and torn food wrapping on chocolate products. Food in the storage rooms and on the shop floor was directly exposed to risk of contamination from rats, which are known to spread pathogenic bacteria such as Salmonella and E-coli.
Robin Wood, the Council’s Senior Trading Standards Officer highlighted to the Magistrates that similar levels of poor hygiene had been found at an unannounced inspection of the premises carried out two years before. The Court was shown copies of Hygiene Improvement Notices issued to Martin McColls for hygiene breaches found and a collection of photographs taken from the premises over this time. These included photographs of rat droppings taken from the floor areas in the food storage rooms as well as torn and damaged food packaging.
Martin McColls Ltd was fined £5,000 for the charge relating to failing to protect food from contamination from rats and £3,500 for each of the other three charges. The Company was also ordered to pay costs of £4,417.30 and a £15 surcharge – a total of £19,932.30.
Councillor David Dixon (Lib-Dem, Oldfield), Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods, said: “Bath & North East Somerset Council strives to ensure that food businesses in our area are provided with as much support as we can offer to help them comply with the food safety requirements. Before undertaking any enforcement activity, businesses are given ample opportunities to improve the safety of their businesses under their own steam.
Sue Green, Bath & North East Somerset Council’s Service Manager for Public Protection, said: “As this case highlights, some businesses choose to ignore the helpful advice given by the Council’s Environmental Health officers during routine inspections. We will always seek to ensure that businesses who put the health of visitors and residents of Bath at risk, are brought to task for their shortcomings.”
To make it easier for consumers to choose places with good hygiene standards when eating out or shopping for food they can check the national Food Hygiene Rating at www.bathnes.gov.uk/foodhygienerating. This hygiene rating shows how closely a business is meeting the requirements of food hygiene law by using a 0-5 rating and is awarded by Environmental Health officers and Food Safety officers after they have inspected a premises.
Many food businesses may also display their food hygiene rating on a sticker in their window or on their premises. 69.2% of Bath and North East Somerset’s food businesses achieve the highest rating of 5. The McColls store on Argyle Street is currently rated ‘0’.
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