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Curry house fined £13,200

15/ 4/2008

THE owners of a curry house infested with cockroaches have been fined £13,200.

An environmental health officer visited the Al Bilal restaurant on Wilmslow Road, Rusholme, and found about 20 cockroaches `crawling around the kitchen, bar and restaurant area'.

The inspector found cockroaches were living in equipment, food containers, drinking glasses and pipework in the kitchen.

He found dirt and food debris on the kitchen walls and underneath cookers and fridges.
His report said that food storage bins were dirty and plate and storage racks were rusty and covered with a thick layer of dirt.

As a result of his findings in August, the restaurant was closed immediately while the owners treated the infestation and cleaned the premises and equipment. It was allowed to reopen nine days later.

One of the owners told the MEN that Al Bilal has passed two subsequent inspections with flying colours and that the staff responsible for the dirty conditions have been sacked. Coun Eddy Newman, described the conditions as completely unacceptable. He added: "The level of the fine reflects how seriously we view this offence.

"The city council will not tolerate any food business which operates without regard for public safety and this case should serve as a warning to anyone who thinks they can get away with poor standards of food hygiene."

Kickstone Ltd, trading as Al Bilal, pleaded guilty to six offences under the Food Hygiene Regulations at Manchester magistrates court on April 9. They were fined £2,000 for each offence and ordered to pay £1,200 costs - a total of £13,200.

One of the restaurant's owners, who did not wish to be named, said those responsible had been sacked. He added: "We're talking about a restaurant that has previously been the cleanest in Manchester. I was away in Pakistan when this visit was carried out. Some of the staff had been lazy with the cleaning and I sacked them when I got back.

"Since then we have had two visits and they have both been very good.

"This will not happen again."