Grim pictures reveal inside of filthy cockroach-ridden Indian restaurant where diner even found one in their curry as owner is ordered to pay £10,000
Everest Spice in Portsmouth, Hants given zero hygiene rating for string of failings including rat dropping throughout premises
A FILTHY Indian restaurant has been ordered to pay almost £10,000 after a horrified customer found a cockroach in his dinner.
Everest Spice was given a zero hygiene rating after a health and safety officer found it was infested with insects.
Inspectors discovered more than 50 cockroaches, including some near bottles of water that were on sale and dead ones squashed in the door opening of an upright freezer.
Rat droppings were found at the takeaway and restaurant, in Portsmouth, Hants, and the staff toilets were also in a poor state.
Portsmouth Magistrates Court heard the inspection came after a customer complained when he found a cockroach in his food.
Everest Spice, owned by Niroj Tamrakar, 40, had no food safety management system in place, which is a legal requirement of any food business.
The inspection found the restaurant did have documents for the food safety management system but trader Tamrakar had taken them to his London home.
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The court heard there was no evidence of staff training on hygiene safety and the sink was in disrepair.
Tamrakar, who admitted nine charges of failing to comply with EU hygiene regulations, was not at the restaurant when the inspection took place in March this year.
He told the inspector over the phone he would voluntarily close the restaurant for a few days because of the public health risk.
Magistrates heard he was aware of the cockroach problem and had tried to treat it with household items.
A recent inspection of Everest Spice, which also offers a takeaway delivery service, found improvement had been made although issues with record keeping and staff training still remained.
The most recent inspection gave the restaurant a hygiene rating of two out of five, meaning improvements are still necessary.
Laura Jenking-Rees, defending, said that due to Tamrakar's wife bringing in the primary income, he was taking care of his two children and had not been visiting Everest Spice as much because of his family responsibilities.
She added: "He was highly reliant and trusting of the people there to run the business."
But magistrate Jenny Duddridge said Tamrakar should have been aware of hygiene ratings because of his other job at Pizza Hut and ordered him to pay a total of £9,589.
He was ordered to pay £8,100 in fines, £170 victim surcharge and £1,319 costs.
Tory environment boss, Cllr Robert New, said: "We try to work with food businesses and advise them on food safety, but the seriousness of this case, and the risk to public health, meant we had no alternative but to prosecute."
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