A company which owns and runs a hotel in Telford has been fined £12,000 for food hygiene offences. A director was also fined £3,000 arising from the same offences.
THG No 3 Ltd based in Honiley, Warwick and its Operations Director Ravi Kathuria pleaded guilty to six charges under the Food Safety and Hygiene Regulations 2013 at an earlier appearance before magistrates (3 September 2019).
The offences came to light during food hygiene inspections carried out at Mercure Telford Madeley Court on 27 February 2019.
The offences included dirty and damaged walls, floor, ceiling, equipment, shelves and other surfaces with and out of date and mouldy food. There was no antibacterial spray and no soap or means of hand drying at wash basins. Staff were inadequately trained and supervised and there was no checking of safe food temperature or procedure to protect against cross contamination of allergens.
Exactly a year earlier (27 February 2018) a food hygiene inspection at the same hotel identified a number of similar offences for which THG No 3 Ltd was prosecuted and fined £20,000. There were still failings at further inspections in February and July 2019. Its rating from the July inspection is 2 i.e. “Improvement necessary”. Photographs shown to the court demonstrate that conditions were similar to 2018.
Sentencing the company and its director yesterday (Wednesday 23 December – the sentencing hearing had been delayed by the pandemic) at Shropshire Magistrates Court sitting in Telford, District Judge Kevin Graco said:
“I ask myself, “who in reality would choose to eat at such a venue of the state of filth in the kitchen area?”
THG No.3 was fined £12,000 and ordered to pay costs of £2447.71. Mr Kathuria was fined £3,000 and ordered to pay costs of £2447.71. District Judge Graco said that in light of the pandemic any fine would be a massive burden on the company and he did not wish to put it out of business
Cllr Richard Overton, Telford & Wrekin Council’s Cabinet Member for Enforcement, said:
“This second prosecution against the same company for a repeat of similar offences shows why the work of our food hygiene inspectors is so important in keeping people safe. They make hundreds of visits every year to make sure that the food handled, served and sold at the premises is safe for people to eat. Many receive the top score of five but, where there are concerns, we will take the matter to court.”
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