The boss of a Wolverhampton catering company was caught making kebabs while a dead body lay on a sofa just a few yards away in the same room.

Jaswinder Singh carried on cooking in a fly-infested prep room at Pappu Sweet Centre & Catering despite the sudden death of one of his workers.

The 45-year-old was banned from working with food again at Wolverhampton Magistrates Court yesterday.

District Judge Martin Brown said: “The facts in this case are extraordinarily serious, they are about as grave as one might get in such a case.”

The catalogue of horrors at the Cannock Road business also included staff smoking and spitting on the floor; a rodent infestation with a dead rat found under a pan in the kitchen; refrigerators running at more than 68F (20OC); mouldy food; and filthy conditions.

Singh, who lives in Prosser Street, Park Village, was banned from managing any food business in the future and ordered to pay £3,861 in fines and costs.

He was caught cooking next to the dead worker in August by a police officer investigating the employee’s sudden death. The Pc was so disgusted, he immediately closed the premises.

Catalogue of horrors at city shop

* Corpse on sofa

* Rodent infestation with droppings, gnawed ingredients, dead rat in kitchen

* Staff smoking

* Staff spitting on floor

* Flies

* Exposed drains

* Dirt and debris

* Mouldy food, including naan breads, potatoes and ginger

* No anti-bacterial cleaning products

* Refrigerators running at more than 68F (20OC)

* Chunks of chicken oozing blood and juices left on freezers

* Cooked meat put next to uncooked

* Smears on walls

* Flaking paintwork

* Mouldy wall coverings

*Poor structure to building

* Mattress on floor of prep room

* Awful smell