Takeaway blasted after cockroaches found ‘throughout’ shop by inspectors – including on the SERVING COUNTER
A TAKEAWAY has been blasted after inspectors found cockroaches “throughout” the business, including the serving counter.
The owners of Master Chef, on Oldham Road, in Failsworth, Greater Manchester, have now pleaded guilty to food hygiene offences.
The dead cockroaches were discovered during a routine inspection by Oldham Council on December 2, 2020.
Environmental Health officers say they found German cockroaches throughout the outlet, including on sticky boards and the serving counter.
The flooring and equipment were also dirty and there was nothing for staff to dry their hands with at the hand basin.
The business was immediately closed.
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Takeaway owner Abdul Ahad, of Oldham, and the business were jointly charged with two offences under Food Safety and Hygiene (England) Regulations 2013.
On May 19, 2022 at Tameside Magistrates Court guilty pleas were entered for all charges.
Ahad, 53, and the business were ordered to hand over a total of £1,934.
Council bosses say the case would "horrify" residents.
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Emma Barton, executive director for place and economic growth, said: “The details of this prosecution will understandably horrify people.
“No business should operate in dirty and unhealthy conditions. If our officers find a business that does then we will take action.”
In January this year, a restaurant owner who "tried to pass off revolting mouldy chicken as a boiled crab" was fined £10,000.
The restaurant refused to close when ordered to and was given a food hygiene rating of zero.
Council officers first visited Lagos Island in Leyton, east London in 2018 to find a mouse and cockroach infestation.
Owner Gaby Kolajo was ordered to shut his business down in August of that year.
But just days later he was caught flouting the ruling by hosting a birthday party at the premises.
He responded by telling officers who caught him that only one half of the premises had been shut down.
But when searching the restaurant after the birthday party, horrified officers found what they believed was a container of mouldy chicken in the kitchen - to which Gaby insisted was actually boiled crab.
Gaby finally appeared at Stratford Magistrates Court and was found guilty of failing to keep his business clean or control pests, serving customers despite an imminent health risk and serving food “unfit for human consumption”.
He was given the highest possible fine of £10,170, including £2,000 in costs to the council and a £170 victim surcharge.
In April this year, a dad claimed he found a cockroach in his daughter’s Happy Meal after ordering through Uber Eats.
Images shared to Reddit show a feral bug climbing on top of a man's hot chips inside a delivery bag from a Hurstville store in Sydney, Australia.
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The man thought the bug had crawled in his food while it was sitting outside the wrong home.
He suspected the food had been sitting out for 30 minutes before it was moved to his place.
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