Cafe’s filthy conditionscost owners £18,000

Rother District Council officers found surfaces and floors at the Two Trees café, in Cooden Sea Road, covered in grease, with food debris on the floors and condensation dripping from the ceiling onto food preparation areas due to the room not being properly ventilated.

Officers further found that raw and cooked meats were being stored together when they inspected the premises last December.

The business also runs a meals on wheels service to vulnerable people in the surrounding area.

Hastings magistrates heard similar failings had been brought to the proprietors’ attention on several previous occasions and, in an effort to overcome this, detailed training had been provided free of charge to the business by the council.

Proprietors Rodney and Pearl Hinsley, who pleaded guilty to the food hygiene offences, were fined £15,000, with costs of £3,090.

Rother District Council’s head of environmental health, Richard Parker-Harding, said: “We always try to work with our businesses to help them achieve compliance with the law, but we will not hesitate to take decisive enforcement action when public health is put at risk.”

If any member of the public has concerns about food hygiene or safety in a local business they should contact Rother District Council’s Environmental Health Department, where an officer can discuss their concerns and, if necessary, carry out an investigation.

Customers are reminded that all food businesses selling to the public directly will have their food safety inspection results published on-line at: http://ratings.food.gov.uk