Swinton restaurant and takeaway bosses fined over hygiene

The bosses of a restaurant and takeaway in Swinton who ignored hygiene warnings have been fined.

Nazmen Begum (38) and Akhtar Miah (48) both pleaded guilty to two food hygiene offences at Manchester and Salford Magistrates Court on Thursday, September 23, for failing to keep a premises clean and failing to maintain appropriate food safety documentation.

A hygiene improvement notice was served in relation to the lack of documentation, which the owners failed to comply with and so this charge was also brought against the food business operators.

They were both fined a total of £2,610 – each being fined £482, including victim surcharge, and costs of £823.

The case started when Environmental Health Officers from Salford City Council visited Jaypur Balti on February 11, 2020, for a routine food hygiene inspection and spoke to Mr Miah.

Officers found the food preparation areas dirty and a lack of facilities for suitable food storage and the disposal of food waste.

Layers of grease had built up on surfaces and it was clear that a deep clean had not taken place for some time.

Two hygiene improvement notices were served.

When Environmental Health Officers attended again on February 25, 2020, to check that cleaning had improved, they found the situation had improved, but more areas still needed attention.

They also discovered from Mr Miah that he ran the business with his wife, Mrs Nazmen Begum. She was also served with a hygiene improvement notice.

On March 3, 2020, Mr Miah and Mrs Begum accepted a simple caution for cleaning and food safety management offences.

Due to the pandemic officers could not visit again until April 27. On this visit they found no hot water in the premises, and there was no records of when this happened in the Safer Food, Better Business diary, which is the required food safety management document that the business should have.

This was a risk to food safety and Mr Miah agreed to temporarily voluntarily close the restaurant with immediate effect to give him time to improve standards.

Cllr David Lancaster, lead member for environment, neighbourhoods and community safety, said: “Poor food hygiene standards will not be tolerated and I would like to thank council officers for taking this case to court.

“I hope it sends a message to those that think they can get away with poor standards. Officers work with food business owners and give them the opportunity to comply informally and this case demonstrates that where this advice is not heeded we will have no hesitation in escalating enforcement.
“The team has been working throughout the pandemic to make sure we have the best standards for all.”

The temporary court has been set up at The Lowry, like other venues across England, to address the backlog of cases due to the pandemic.