GALLERY: Hefty fine for Burwell takeaway after inspectors uncover “series of breaches”

Images captured by health inspectors on a routine visit to Spice2Burwell (Image: Archant)

Images captured by health inspectors on a routine visit to Spice2Burwell (Image: Archant)

Akram Ali, 27, proprietor of Spice2Burwell, pleaded guilty of 10 breaches of food hygiene regulations at Cambridge Magistrates’ Court for both himself and the company.

The case followed a routine inspection of the premises by the environmental health team at East Cambridgeshire District Council in February.

The visits were to check if Mr Ali, from Cambridge, was meeting standards of food safety, while identifying any potential risks and ensuring food safety standards were met.

The team found a number of breaches of the food hygiene regulations which included:

Unclean premises and storage facilities, failure to prepare and store foods safely, failure to keep things in good repair, poor training of staff and incomplete food safety management records.

Liz Knox, head of environmental services at the district council, said: “When the team went to Spice2Burwell earlier this year – they found a series of breaches of the food hygiene regulations.

“For example, staff had no means of cleaning and drying their hands properly as there was no soap in the soap dispensers, the tap wasn’t maintained and the hand-dryer was broken.

“Open food was stored on greasy cardboard that could not be cleaned and food wasn’t defrosted properly. Overall standards of cleanliness and state of repair to the premises were poor.

“With this case, it was clear to our officers that these breaches were very serious which is why we took immediate action and took the owner of Spice2Burwel to court. “We hope the large fine handed out by the court will act as a suitable deterrent to other food outlets in the district to ensure they keep up the best food standards for their customers.”

For more information please call 01353 665555 or logon to www.eastcambs.gov.uk