Environmental health bosses have stepped up controls of butchers across the Cannock Chase district after visiting premises and discovering the majority had unhygienic practices.

Thirteen butchers across the district were visited and one was closed temporarily after a total of 33 food samples, 22 swabs and eight cleaning cloths were taken for analysis. Results showed the majority were unsatisfactory with high counts of organisms present.

Cannock Butchers, based in Cannock Indoor Shopping Centre, was temporarily closed after a high count of E.coli was discovered but is open again after environmental health bosses were satisfied standards were being met.

Advice has been given to butchers and regular checks are now being made with offenders facing maximum fines of £20,000 and possible term of imprisonment for flouting the law. The review was made following the recent Pennington Report into the South Wales E. coli O157 outbreak.

Cannock Chase Council was the first in Staffordshire to undertake a thorough review of butchers’ premises.

Steve Shilvock, head of environmental health, said: “We have offered help and advice to the butchers. Some of the practices we discovered were unhygienic and we have offered them advice and help.

“We will be visiting the premises on a regular basis now to ensure the standards are met. One shop was closed for a short while as the less dangerous strain of e.coli was discovered. It has since complied with the standards and reopened.

“If premises across the district flout the law then enforcement action will be carried out with maximum fines reaching £20,000 for the worst offences and possible imprisonment.

“We want to reassure people living in the Cannock Chase District that we have stringent measures in place and carry out regular checks.

“We were the first authority in Staffordshire to carry out this review of butchers premises. E.coli 0157 is a very dangerous strain and it is imperative we have stringent measures in place.”