Four food businesses, 3 of them in Southall, have appeared in court, with 2 receiving substantial fines, following food hygiene and fly-tipping offences.

A well-known Southall restaurant was fined more than £25,000 after the owner pleaded guilty to five food hygiene offences following an investigation by Ealing Council.

Essence Restaurants Limited trading as Moti Mahal, 94 The Broadway, Southall, appeared at Ealing Magistrates' Court on Thursday, 6 August 2015, following a string of failed food hygiene inspections and sustained non-compliance with food safety laws.

The court imposed the maximum fine of £5,000 each for five offences, and awarded the council costs of £602 and applied a victim surcharge of £120 bringing the total penalty to £25,722.

Moti Mahal had received food hygiene ratings of either zero or one over four consecutive inspections between 2013 and 2015, and had been subject to a number of written warnings.

Following a further inspection in August this year, it now holds a food hygiene rating of 4 out of 5.

In October 2014, emergency action was taken to temporarily close the business due to a serious rodent infestation where mouse droppings were found throughout the premises and in contact with food. Other offences included; failing to keep the premises and equipment clean, inadequate drainage provision and failing to protect food against contamination.

Councillor Julian Bell, leader of the council, said: "This business displayed a disregard for its customers’ safety by ignoring warnings and advice from council officers. The level of this fine reflects the seriousness of the offences and should serve as a warning to all food businesses that we will take tough action if they fail to operate within the rules."

"I am very pleased to see our action had the desired effect and the business has now achieved a food hygiene rating of four."

Jeet Singh Kakkar, the proprietor of Best Quality Meat, a butcher at 64 King Street, Southall, also appeared in court and pleaded guilty to a series of fly-tipping offences following an investigation by the council’s envirocrime prevention officers.

Between December 2014 and January 2015, staff from the butcher were regularly filmed on CCTV carrying bags of waste and cardboard boxes from the premises and dumping them in Dagmar Mews, a nearby residential street which is known as a fly-tipping ‘hot spot’.

Mr Kakkar was fined £3,000 for failure to prevent his staff from fly-tipping waste from the business and ordered to pay £466.76 in costs along with a victim surcharge of £120.

On the same day, Ealing Magistrates’ Court also confirmed the council’s decisions to temporarily close two other businesses. Telford Fish Bar at 4 Winford Parade, Southall was closed from 30 June to 4 July 2015 due to an infestation of mice and lack of hot water.

The Coriander Leaf at 158 South Ealing Road, South Ealing, was closed from 3 July to 7 July 2015 also due to an infestation of mice.

Councillor Bell added: "We are committed to making Ealing a safer and cleaner place for residents and visitors to the borough, and our officers work diligently to ensure businesses comply with regulations."