Former Salisbury restaurant operator fined £15,000 for rat and fly infested business
Complaints were made a few years ago
The former owner of a restaurant in Salisbury has been fined £15,000 for operating a fly and rat infested business.
He was charged due to recurring food hygiene offences after investigations by Environmental Health Officers from Wiltshire Council’s Food and Safety team.
The offences took place while the defendant was in charge of Arzoo Restaurant, 129-133 South Western Road Salisbury, which is now under different ownership and a new name.
Saydul Islam of Foxwell Drive, Headington, Oxford, has been ordered to pay £15,000 in fines and £7,047 legal costs, plus a victim surcharge fee of £170.
The sentence was delayed due to the pandemic.
In November 2019, the defendant pleaded guilty to ten charges of poor hygiene practices.
The year before a member of the public complained about rats so health officers inspected the restaurant.
They found a chronic failure to achieve the very basics of food hygiene in all parts of the business and matters that put customers at imminent risk of harm.
Widespread rat infestation in food preparation areas were spotted, the animals were able to gain access to the kitchen through multiple points including a broken kitchen window.
There were also exceptionally poor standards of cleaning and hygiene in all food preparation and storage areas, with unhygienic and dirty food contact surfaces, equipment and food containers, exposing food to serious risk of contamination.
To protect the public, the business was persuaded to voluntarily close for cleaning repairs and pest treatments for seven days.
During this closure, an officer visited several times at the request of Mr Islam, finding on each occasion that he had still not addressed the issue effectively.
The business later re-opened to trade following extensive cleaning, elimination of the rats and pest proofing works.
A further, unannounced inspection on the 7th August 2019 revealed further appalling standards of hygiene and an extensive fly infestation throughout the food rooms.
In his summary, the district judge commented that the defendant would have been clearly aware of the problems at the restaurant but, motivated by profit, he had failed to address them and put the public at risk for a significant period of time.
Sharing the council’s lack of confidence in the ability of the defendant to run a food business safely and with no evidence submitted by him to the contrary, the judge made a Prohibition Order to prohibit the defendant from participating in the management of any food business indefinitely.
Cllr Ian Blair-Pilling, Wiltshire Council Cabinet Member for Public Health and Protection, said:
“The outcome of this case reflects the seriousness of the offences found at this business, with shocking pest infections and the defendant showing no regard for the safety of his customers.
“I would like to thank our Food and Safety team for the key role they played in getting this to court. It is unfortunate that sentencing has been delayed by the pandemic but our team ensured that the matter was brought before the court for sentencing as rapidly as the backlog permitted, and the Prohibition Order is an appropriate sanction in cases of such blatant neglect. We would like to reassure people that this work goes on despite the restrictions we have faced.
“The majority of restaurant managers know that the hygiene of their venue and the safety of their customers is of absolute primary importance. I hope this acts as a warning to those businesses that look to cut corners and put profit above anything else.”
Arzoo Restaurant has operated under different ownership since Autumn 2019, with a new name and a food hygiene rating of 4 from its latest inspection in October 2021.