The owner of an Indian restaurant linked to several cases of E.coli has appeared in court to admit to four food hygiene offences.

Abdul Roshik, who runs the Little India restaurant in Tudor Square, Tenby, was fined £3,500 by Haverfordwest Magistrates on December 20th.

The court heard that the offences came to light when the premises was visited by Environmental Health Officers from Pembrokeshire County Council’s Public Protection Department.

This followed an outbreak of E.coli 0157 in the summer of 2009 when it was discovered that five people with the bug had all recently eaten at the restaurant.

However no evidence was found to suggest that the restaurant was the cause of the outbreak.

During the inspections it became apparent to officers that the business had no documented Food Safety Management System. This is a legal requirement to assist food businesses manage food safety risks.

Other transgressions included: ready to eat foods placed next to raw meat in the refrigerator; no soap or towel provided at the wash hand basin; large quantities of cooked chicken and cooked rice; left out at room temperatures for prolonged periods.

The court was told that the association of the premises with the cases of E.coli and the offences discovered, resulted in Roshik voluntarily closing the restaurant for a time to address the unsatisfactory matters.

As well as the fine of £3,500, he was ordered to pay Pembrokeshire County Council £1,250 - half of its investigative costs. He was also ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £15.

At the same hearing, Roshik also pleaded guilty to three charges brought under the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.

The prosecution case, brought by a Health and Safety Inspector employed by Pembrokeshire County Council, followed a complaint regarding the occurrence of a number of gas leaks in October 2008, one of which had led to the evacuation of the building above the basement restaurant.

An inspection identified that the gas appliances at the premises did not meet the required safety standards and despite the fact that there had been at least two incidents, the defendant had failed to arrange for the gas installation to be checked or maintained by a competent gas engineer.

A view was taken that the gas installation at the premises was unsafe. As a result the gas supply was capped off and a prohibition notice was served ceasing use of gas installation. The court heard that given the condition of the equipment and the pipework there was a serious risk of explosion which could have caused serious injury or worse to employees at the restaurant, customers and neighboring properties.

For these offences, Roshik was fined a total of £5,500 for the Health and Safety breaches and required to pay the County Council £1,250 towards the investigative costs. He was also required to pay a victim surcharge of £15.

After the case, the County Council’s Cabinet Member for Environmental and Regulatory Services, Councillor Ken Rowlands, said the total fines of over £11,000 showed the serious nature of the breaches and sent a clear message to all businesses for the need for responsible business management.

“Food Business Operators must ensure that they undertake their food businesses activities in a safe manner at all times” said Councillor Rowlands.

“Failure to do so can have very grave consequences for the people who eat or work at their premises.”

Councilor Rowlands also expressed disappointment that the Council had not been awarded full costs in the case.

“Where offenders are not required to repay Council costs in full, unfortunately it is left to the local Council Taxpayer to foot the bill” he added.