Shocking food safety problems uncovered at Suffolk pub
The former landlord of a pub in Suffolk has been fined nearly £2,000 and banned from working in food outlets after a number of shocking food safety breaches were uncovered at the premises.
Officer from Environmental Health visited the Huntsman and Hounds pub in Spexhall, near Halesworth, back in December 2009. They found one of the worst cases of food hygiene breaches they had ever encountered, including:
• Food that was covered with mould or in a substantial state of decay
• Surfaces soiled with insect faeces
• Evidence that cleaning had not been undertaken for weeks
• Filthy hand basins and tea towels
Conditions at the pub were so bad that it was assumed that neither the former landlord of the pub, Lloyd Clarke, nor any of his employees had undergone any food hygiene training.
Mr Clarke, 54, admitted a total of 17 breaches of food safety regulations in a magistrate’s court in Lowestoft last week. He received a fine of £1,900 and was banned from working in food outlets. The council explained that prosecuting Mr Clarke had taken more than a year and a half as he refused to attend court and eventually had to be arrested.