'Filthy and insanitary': Owner of rat-infested chip shop sentenced

It was only luck that had prevented people falling ill after eating food prepared at Chipmasters in Lower Hall Lane, Walsall which operated as a takeaway and restaurant, Wolverhampton Crown Court was told.

It was open for business and serving customers when an environmental health officer visited the premises on a routine call – and promptly shut it down.

"It was filthy, insanitary and infested with flies, booklice and rats," revealed Mr Mark Jackson, prosecuting on behalf of Walsall Council.

An examination of its pest control records revealed that rats had plagued the place for at least four months without anything being done to remove the menace.

Mandeep Kaur, aged 27, who ran the enterprise, had also ignored food hygiene advice from experts three time in as many years, disclosed Mr Jackson who added: "This was not an isolated example of things going awry. She showed a flagrant disregard for the law."

Environmental Health Officer Elizabeth Lee – who carried out the shocking inspection on October 22 2014 – said she had never seen such dreadful conditions in more than 20 years in the job.

Food was putrefying, sinks were piled high with grease and grime covered equipment, thick brown gelatinous grease had pooled on the floor and the lid of a large plastic food container was embedded with dead flies, the court heard.

Flies were seen crawling over a chopping board and an open drain in the floor of the restaurant was covered with a makeshift filter that was clogged with old potato peelings, continued the prosecutor.

The servery area was swarming with flies which were constantly landing and crawling over the counter and shelving that contained the crockery intended for use by the customers. There were rat droppings on the kitchen floor.

Kaur had been warned about the unsatisfactory standards of cleanliness by environmental health officers twice in 2011 and again in 2013 but had turned a deaf ear to their advice.

Both the defendant and the controlling company of which she was the sole director each admitted eight Food Safety and Hygiene offences.

She had taken responsibility for the family business after the sudden death of her father in 2009 and had not been able to cope, said Miss Sally Cairns, defending.

The lawyer who added: "She admits the place was not fit to be open to the public."

Kaur from Hampshire Road, Hill Top, West Bromwich was given a 16-week jail sentence suspended for 18 months with 150 hours unpaid work and £300 costs.

The company Chipmasters was fined £8,000 with £2,975 costs but has no assets and is unlikely to settle the debt.