Disgusted health inspectors find cockroaches and dirty buckets of chicken at filthy takeaway
Perfect Pizza in Portmouth and its owner fined more than £9,000 for a string of hygiene offences
HYGIENE inspectors found cockroaches and dirty buckets of chicken at a filthy pizza takeaway.
Perfect Pizza in Portsmouth and its owner Abdul Majid have been fined more than £9,000 for a string of offences following the grim discovery.
Along with two cockroaches, a Portsmouth City Council environmental health officer also discovered sinks with no soap or hand-towels, rubbish piled high in the yard, and raw kebabs and burgers stored near ready-to-eat food.
Majid, 36, nodded as his firm North End Fast Food was fined £8,000 with £1,319 costs and a £30 charge.
Magistrates also handed him a personal fine of £1,200 with a £20 victim surcharge.
Council inspectors were tipped off after a pest control worker was called in to clean up a cockroach infestation in the flat above and feared the insects could have spread downstairs.
Two other people claimed to be the boss while Majid was overseas, Portsmouth magistrates court heard.
One even turned up to be interviewed by investigators at the civic offices – before the council finally tracked down who was in charge.
Sentencing, chairman Stephen Waller told Majid: "These are serious offences.
"We were satisfied that at the time your management structure was disorganised and therefore the local authority had to spend some time and energy finding out who was the responsible person.
"You're dealing with public health matters and people could have been seriously ill as a result of this."
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Liyen Edin, mitigating for Majid, said: "He wasn't aware of the conditions. He himself was shocked."
Majid and the firm each admitted eight offences under the Food Safety and Hygiene Regulations 2013.
The takeaway has since changed its name to The Perfect Kebab Company.
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