An Indian restaurant and take-away in Tenby has been ordered by a court to pay £7,000 in fines and costs after admitting a number of food hygiene offences.

Magistrates in Haverfordwest were told yesterday (Monday) that the offences came to light during an unannounced visit by health inspectors in August, 2007, to The Barbucci Restaurant, The Hilton in Warren Street.

When officers from Pembrokeshire County Council’s Public Protection Division visited the premises they discovered poor structural conditions; a lack of adequate cleaning and poor ventilation together with lack of adequate hand-washing facilities and no documented food safety management system. Unfit food was also found on the premises.

A Hygiene Improvement Notice was served on the premises requiring extensive works to be carried out which was subsequently complied with.

However the court heard that a further routine programmed inspection carried out the following March revealed that conditions had again deteriorated to a state similar to that found on the original inspection The court was told that this indicated that the business had failed to sustain the short term improvements that they initially undertook.

The operator, M Shahab Ali, who pleaded guilty, was fined £1,500 for the initial offences and £2,500 for the follow-up offences. A further £3,000 in costs was awarded to the County Council.

Speaking after the case, Jeff Beynon, the Council’s Food, Safety and Port Health Manager, said that higher fines for the subsequent offences were to be expected.

"The fact that poor compliance was witnessed in the first place was unacceptable, it was inexcusable for standards not to have been maintained after the Council’s officers had taken time to provide advice and direction to the business.

"It is essential that businesses take steps to secure and maintain compliance, and not make temporary improvements as a ‘knee-jerk’ response to inspections.”