Remmington
New member
MOULD on fridges, out-of-date food, filthy floors and shelves, and even a dog basket in the corner.
These were the scenes confronting horrified environmental health inspectors when they looked around the kitchen of a popular Hampshire café and restaurant.
The owner of Café Lulworth, in Sarisbury Green, has now been ordered to pay more than £6,000 in fines and costs after admitting 11 hygiene offences.
Fareham magistrates told George Blakemore that they could impose up to £5,000 penalties for each charge, but they reduced the amount after he told them that a £55,000 charge would put him out of business.
Fareham Borough Council officers were disgusted by the state of the kitchen when they visited the waterfront eatery, at Universal Marina, Crableck Lane.
As well as debris, dirt and grease on floors, walls and fans, sinks, fridges, an oven, a microwave, a fryer and griddle, they found no system in place to monitor use-by dates for food.
“It was in a totally unacceptable and filthy state,” said prosecutor Katherine Rickwood. “If there are a million bacteria on the head of a pin, one can only imagine how many bacteria there were in all that grease.”
The chef had no formal hygiene training, raw meat lay open near cooked meat and salads, and there was no protection from potential rat infestations.
Inspectors met with Blakemore, and follow-up visits showed that standards had been raised.
However, they then made another surprise inspection six months later.
“They looked round the premises and found to their immense disappointment and dismay that the level of cleaning was at an unacceptable level,” said Mrs Rickwood.
“There was food debris and general dirt that indicated it hadn’t been cleaned for a while. They found out-of-date chicken, and alongside the fridge there was a collection of shoes, which can lead to a contamination risk.”
Blakemore, who has owned the café for two-and-a-half years, said that he had “taken my eye off the ball” while his partner received hospital treatment and he then set up a business in Plymouth.
He said that the staff involved had been dismissed on both occasions.
“It’s a lesson that’s been hard on me,” he told the court. “I now know we’ve got to be there virtually on a permanent basis.”
Blakemore said that he is working with the council, and that a further inspection in December had found no hygiene issues.
These were the scenes confronting horrified environmental health inspectors when they looked around the kitchen of a popular Hampshire café and restaurant.
The owner of Café Lulworth, in Sarisbury Green, has now been ordered to pay more than £6,000 in fines and costs after admitting 11 hygiene offences.
Fareham magistrates told George Blakemore that they could impose up to £5,000 penalties for each charge, but they reduced the amount after he told them that a £55,000 charge would put him out of business.
Fareham Borough Council officers were disgusted by the state of the kitchen when they visited the waterfront eatery, at Universal Marina, Crableck Lane.
As well as debris, dirt and grease on floors, walls and fans, sinks, fridges, an oven, a microwave, a fryer and griddle, they found no system in place to monitor use-by dates for food.
“It was in a totally unacceptable and filthy state,” said prosecutor Katherine Rickwood. “If there are a million bacteria on the head of a pin, one can only imagine how many bacteria there were in all that grease.”
The chef had no formal hygiene training, raw meat lay open near cooked meat and salads, and there was no protection from potential rat infestations.
Inspectors met with Blakemore, and follow-up visits showed that standards had been raised.
However, they then made another surprise inspection six months later.
“They looked round the premises and found to their immense disappointment and dismay that the level of cleaning was at an unacceptable level,” said Mrs Rickwood.
“There was food debris and general dirt that indicated it hadn’t been cleaned for a while. They found out-of-date chicken, and alongside the fridge there was a collection of shoes, which can lead to a contamination risk.”
Blakemore, who has owned the café for two-and-a-half years, said that he had “taken my eye off the ball” while his partner received hospital treatment and he then set up a business in Plymouth.
He said that the staff involved had been dismissed on both occasions.
“It’s a lesson that’s been hard on me,” he told the court. “I now know we’ve got to be there virtually on a permanent basis.”
Blakemore said that he is working with the council, and that a further inspection in December had found no hygiene issues.
