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The former owner of a pub in the Welsh village of Tintern has lost his appeal against the fines he was ordered to pay for breaching food safety regulations.

In August 2011, Stephen Williams pleaded guilty to four food safety offences, all of which related to his former ownership of The Fountain Inn. Mr Williams ran the pub until October 2010, but whilst he was still in charge the premises was visited by food safety inspectors from Monmouthshire council.

The results of the inspection showed that standards of cleanliness in the pub’s kitchen were very poor and that a number of food items were past their sell-by dates. At the time, it was not known whether Mr Williams had undergone food safety training or not.

Conditions at the pub hadn’t improved when a follow-up visit was made to The Fountain Inn a few weeks later, which led to Mr Williams’ prosecution. He was ordered to pay £1,200 in fines and £900 in court costs.

However, Mr Williams appealed the fine, saying that council inspectors were bullying him and that standards had improved by the second visit. He has now lost the appeal on the grounds that the fine amount seemed reasonable to Judge David Wynn Morgan, although the court costs amount was reduced.