A St Davids pub which posed an E.coli risk to its customers was ordered to pay more than £7,000 in fines and costs for three food hygiene offences, at Haverfordwest magistrates court on Monday.

Managing director of B G Betterspoons Ltd, which owns The Bishops, Matthew Blakiston admitted failing to make sure food was protected against contamination, ensuring that his staff were properly trained and supervised, and abiding by a food safety management system, on June 21st, 2012.

Pembrokeshire County Council prosecutor Sally Martin said that a council environmental health officer found that kitchen staff failed keep records of opening and closing checks, and had never heard of a food safety food management system. She added that they were even unaware of the legal temperature for the fridge.

Miss Martin said that during the visit, the inspector came across a number of cross-contamination issues. The head chef was seen whisking raw eggs next to cooked rice and salad, while mackerel was left defrosting on the side.

She said that bar staff were seen preparing beer batter without any protective clothing, and a frozen food delivery was left unattended.

She added that vast amounts of food in the walk-in chiller was past its use by date, table tops were dirty, and bins were overflowing and without lids.

Miss Martin said that blood from defrosting burgers was also left overflowing over the sides of the trays on the work unit, posing an E.coli risk. In the cellar, spilled raw blood was found on the lid of a large freezer.

The head chef, who received hospitality training in Romania, failed to produce a training certificate and could not explain what it her training entailed. Two other agency staff also failed to produce their certificates.

A hygiene improvement notice was served with immediate action required, and a food hygiene rating of zero was awarded.

David Lloyd, defending, said that as a result of an inspection on January 24th, 2013, a maximum hygiene score of five was given to The Bishops.

He said that Blakiston had run the business for 25 years, and his restaurants were highly regarded “places of excellence”. He added that Blakiston accepted that a “failure of management” led to the hygiene problems.

Blakiston was fined £6,000 for the three offences, and ordered to pay £1,500 costs.

The presiding magistrate said: “We took into account that no one became ill as a result of the offences, but we feel that that was really by luck.”

Following the hearing, Blakiston said that he and his staff “deeply regret this blot on the firm’s reputation”, putting it down to emergency employment of staff at a very busy time.