A pub landlord was fined £9,000 after festering meat was discovered in a dirty kitchen.

Food up to six weeks out of date was found at the Royal Sun, in Woodstock Road, Begbroke, including a piece of lamb that had decomposed and turned green.

Environmental health officers from Cherwell District Council visited the pub in November last year, after they were told that the water supply had been cut off. They found there were no temperature monitoring records or cleaning schedules and none of the staff preparing the food was trained.

Licensee John Laight appeared at Bicester Magistrates' Court (Nov 22) charged with selling food unfit for human consumption, having premises in a poor state of cleanliness and disrepair, and failing to have a food safety management system.

He denied the charges, but was found guilty and fined £9,000. The council was awarded costs of £3,314.

Environmental health officer Nina Clough said: "To have food that is unfit for human consumption available for sale shows a blatant disregard for food safety legislation and a total lack of pride and care by the catering staff.

"The build-up of food debris and dirt in the kitchen showed that cleaning had not taken place for a considerable time."

Speaking after the case, Mr Laight said: "At that time, we were experiencing kitchen staff problems and the statutory environmental health systems in place were somewhat erratic.

"The manager had the appropriate environmental health qualifications, but fell short in supervising the kitchen adequately. The cook left our employment shortly after the visit. A complete overhaul of the environmental health procedures and controls was instigated and these are in place to this day."

Mr Laight was fined £3,000 and ordered to pay £1,300 costs in June 2002 over health and safety risks to staff at the pub. Bicester magistrates heard then that hazardous cleaning chemicals had been stored in an unsafe manner, putting members of staff in danger.