Hotel owner fined for breaching food hygiene rules
The owner of a hotel in the Cambridgeshire city of Ely has been ordered to pay more than £4,000 in fines and costs after admitting five breaches of food safety regulations.
Upon visiting the Nyton Hotel in August and September 2012 on a routine inspection, environmental health officers from East Cambridgeshire District Council found a number of worrying problems with food safety regulations. These issues included:
- Unacceptable storage of food – inspectors found raw shell eggs being stored above uncovered Yorkshire puddings and ready-to-eat meat in a fridge
- Out-of-date food being served to customers
- Mouldy food found in the kitchen
For failing to maintain acceptable standards and for breaching food safety regulations, the hotel’s owner Robert Setchell was prosecuted by the local council. He admitted five breaches of The Food Hygiene (England) Regulations 2006 at Cambridge Magistrates’ Court and was ordered to pay £2,500 in fines and a further £2,000 in legal costs.
Speaking during the case, a representative for the local authority expressed surprise over the food safety breaches found at the Nyton Hotel, as Mr Setchell had apparently received food hygiene training and one-to-one coaching by the council itself.