A Reading shopkeeper has been prosecuted for the second time in two years following a series of food hygiene offences.
Mr Dinkar Patel – owner of ‘Jay Convenience Stores, 29 Whitley Wood Lane, Reading – pleaded guilty at Reading Magistrates Court on Wednesday August 18 to four offences. He was fined £100 per offence and Reading Borough Council was awarded costs of £922.
Investigations into the Reading Whitley Wood Lane shop initially began in October 2008 following a complaint from a member of the public. Environmental Health officers visited and found a thick build up of dirt, debris and cobwebs under shelves and in the shop storeroom. There was also no running hot water and no management system for controlling food safety in place at the shop.
Despite repeated visits by Reading Environmental Health Officers, standards at the shop did not improve. The Council therefore chose to prosecute and four Food Hygiene Improvement Notices were served.
Reading Magistrates last week fined Mr Patel £100 for each of the following offences: failure to have a food safety management system; failure to ensure food handlers were trained; failure to provide hot running water and materials for hygienic drying; failure to ensure that the premises were maintained clean and in good repair and condition.
It is the second time Mr. Patel has been prosecuted by Reading Borough Council. In 2009 he was fined £500 and Magistrates awarded £1,873.89 in costs in connection with four similar food hygiene offences at his other store, DJ One Stop, 74 Briants Ave, Caversham.
Reading Borough Council
