PICTURES: Inside '˜dirty' cafe fined £6,000 for hygiene shame

The smell from the waste bin at the rear of the Deansgate Kitchen eating house was so foul an experienced council health officer almost retched.

The roofed area at the rear of the property was also strewn with bird droppings the town’s magistrates were told.

Director Jonathan Kay, of Deansgate Kitchen Ltd, admitted six offences under the Food Safety and Hygiene Act in a prosecution brought by Blackpool Council, which today released images of inside the property following the conviction.

He was fined £6,000, with £490 costs and ordered to pay a £170 victims’ surcharge.

Lynda Bennett, prosecuting, said the premises were not kept clean.Repairs were not done and food was not stored properly.

Council officers found ice cream being kept in a freezer along with meat.

“Large areas of the Deansgate Kitchen was found to be dirty and greasy.This included fridges,ovens a bain marie and coffee machine.

“The floor and a chopping board were unsatisfactory and there was a hole which could allow access by pests.

“The owner did not have adequate food hygiene awareness and this can present a danger to those people eating there.”

The court heard that Mr Kay took action and shut the premises voluntarily so that improvements could go ahead.

A second visit still found problems with dirt and the premises remained closed until a third visit gave it the all clear after cleaning levels had improved.

Allan Cobain, defending, said that Kay made a profit of just £190 working a sixty hour week.

His client had run the premises for 27 years and was ashamed that he had allowed standards to slip.

“He has had to borrow £7,000 to buy new equipment which was needed.”

“There had been no complaints from members of the public and no food was found mouldy or past its sell by date.”

“Mr Kay has cleaned up the pigeon mess but believes he is not solely to blame for the birds getting access to this area.”

Chairman of the Bench Michael Leigh said: “You have a duty to protect the public. The first inspection of the the premises clearly showed they fell short of the required standard.”

Coun Gillian Campbell, Deputy Leader of Blackpool Council, said: “This is a long established business so it’s disappointing that the owner could make such basic food hygiene errors – there are no excuses for letting standards slip.

“Officers made repeated visits to the premises to find that no significant improvements had been made.

“This is simply unacceptable.”