These grim pictures reveal the disgusting state of a Southport takeaway.
Hygiene inspectors found the floor of Flames littered with food debris, walls marked with heavy grease and congealed blood inside a pizza topping tub.
The boss of the Eastbank Street takeaway, Faruk Aydogan, was fined £1,300 after breaching food safety standards.
Flames was handed zero-star hygiene rating by Sefton Council in May.
Fiona Townsend, prosecuting for the council, told magistrates in Bootle: “Two officers visited in May. On arrival the officers found the takeaway open for business.
“They were greeted by the defendant and then asked if they could return tomorrow.
“They said they were doing it today as it was open for business."
Flames on Eastbank Street
“They found that the floor was littered with food debris, they found the wall and floor had heavy grease, beneath the stock table they found yellow and brown grease, in the pizza topping tub they found congealed blood deposits.”
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Aydogan pleaded guilty to failing to keep the takeaway clean and in a state of good repair. He also admitted not keeping the food equipment cleaned and disinfected to prevent infection.
The court heard how the takeaway had received written warnings from 2010 until May this year.
Inspectors returned in November when the takeaway was awarded a three-star hygiene rating.
Flames on Eastbank Street
Aydogan said: “Since that day we have got better and better. I invited the council to come and visit again.
“We were unlucky to have the inspection (on that day).
“(A colleague) had a baby and so I was by myself and it was bank holiday weekend.
“But since then it is clean and I have improved and we are still improving.
“It wasn’t in a good condition, but we realised we needed to be more and more careful.”
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Aydogan said he hopes to obtain a five-star rating.
He said: “[The takeaway] went up to four stars but unfortunately last May it was unlucky. We need to take more responsibility.
“Business is going down. We need five stars. We do our best now and I invite inspectors to come back any time.”
The Flames takeaway on Eastbank Street in Southport. Photo by Google Street View
A spokesman for Sefton Council said: “Hopefully this guilty plea sends a clear message to all food businesses across Sefton for the need of responsible food hygiene management.
“All food business operators must ensure that they follow strict hygiene regulations at all times and failure to do so can have severe consequences for the people who eat or work at their premises.
“This court case came about from a routine inspection and businesses need to know that if they fail to comply with hygiene regulations, we have no choice other than to prosecute them.”
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Source: http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/