Last updated at 13:41, Monday, 08 March 2010

A FORMER Ulverston take-away owner has been banned from managing food businesses after he was found guilty of neglecting hygiene rules.

Environmental health officers found poor standards of food hygiene practices on each of the three occasions they inspected Mehdi Saleh’s Tasty Bite takeaway in Fountain Street, Ulverston, last year.

The officers, who work for South Lakeland District Council, reported poor standards of food hygiene practices and problems with cleaning and food safety management, including multiple hygiene defects.

They also found evidence that Saleh was not managing the takeaway effectively on food safety grounds.

Seleh was issued with an emergency prohibition notice and the takeaway was closed temporarily in the interest of public safety.

Saleh denied three offences relating to food hygiene and failure to comply with Hygiene Improvement Notices when he appeared at Furness Magistrates’ Court last month.

But he was found guilty and made to pay SLDC costs totaling £1,700.

Brenda Collins, SLDC environmental health officer, told the Evening Mail: “We took enforcement action due to the history of Mr Saleh failing to respond to both informal requests and legal notices.

“We also took into account the extremely poor standards and neglect found on a number of occasions in 2009.

“Prohibiting somebody from managing a food business is a severe penalty and is only considered in extreme cases.

“In this case the conditions in the premises were very poor and the owner’s lack of willingness to comply with legal requirements were such that the overriding concern was to protect public health in the future.”

Ms Collins hopes the action taken by the council sends out a clear message to business owners that poor hygiene standards will not be tolerated.

She said: “Cleaning, good hygiene practices and management procedures are the basic principles of operating a safe food business and protecting the public.”

The takeaway is now under new ownership as Flames Pizzeria and Ms Collins said it is operating to a satisfactory standard of compliance.

First published at 13:12, Monday, 08 March 2010
Published by http://www.nwemail.co.uk