The owner of a popular Indian restaurant has been prosecuted after health inspectors found it was dirty and infested with flies.
Nashir Uddin, of Didcot Tandoori, Broadway, faced criminal proceedings following an inspection by South Oxfordshire District Council.
David Saffin, assistant environmental health manager, said: "The district council will continue to ensure that all food business come up to the standards we all expect and is prepared to prosecute when this is not the case."
Uddin admitted five offences under the Food Safety Act. He claimed rubbish accumulated at the rear of the premises had been because of distruption in the regular collection service through staff holidays.
Environmental health officer Nina Clough said various problems were identified including:
Too much dirt
Too much rubbish
Lack of effective pest control
Poor staff training
Miss Clough highlighted the problem of flies buzzing in the building during the council inspection last July. Uddin was sentenced to 18 months' probation and 60 hours' community service and ordered to pay £781.51 in court costs.
Afterwards he said: "Because of the inspection by the council, I called in a pest control firm which found nothing to complain about in the kitchen or the restaurant - there was no trace of pests or vermin."
Story date: Wednesday 02 February
Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.
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