City sandwich bar fined £35,000 for mice activity
A Birmingham sandwich bar was ordered to pay £35,000 after being found guilty of three offences under the Food Safety and Hygiene (England) Regulations 2013, at Birmingham Magistrates Court today.
Philpotts Ltd – which is based at 146 Sarehole Road, Birmingham B28 8DT and runs Philpotts at 34 Bennetts Hill, in the city centre – pleaded not guilty to all three offences at an earlier hearing (2 February 2017) and was fined £35,000 and ordered to pay £15,892.55 court costs.
Birmingham City Council prosecuted Philpotts Ltd after environmental health officers found evidence of mouse activity throughout the premises on 30 November 2015.
Mouse droppings were found throughout the premises – including on a shelf containing bowls and colanders used to prepare food, mouse droppings on boxes used to pack ready to eat cakes, and mouse droppings on food preparation surfaces – so a Hygiene Emergency Prohibition Notice (HEPN) was issued as conditions posed an imminent risk of injury to health as food was either contaminated or at risk of contamination.
Following a revisit on 2 December 2015 Philpotts was allowed to reopen as the risk to health was removed.
Nick Lowe, Operations Manager – Food Safety, Regulation and Enforcement, said: “We welcome the guilty verdict and are satisfied with the outcome of the trial. The fine demonstrates that the court considers food safety to be a priority and food businesses should take note of that.”
Philpotts at 34 Bennetts Hill remains open and continues to trade.
