A LYE grocery store boss has been hit with a court bill of more than £3,000 after inspectors discovered a series of hygiene problems.

Rai Ahmad Sadiq Sangra, owner of PK Continental in High Street, was fined £2,000 and ordered to pay costs of £1,486.50 and a victim surcharge of £120 after admitting eight offences under the food hygiene regulations at Dudley Magistrates on October 16.

The court heard he no longer runs the business but in September 2013 Dudley Council's environmental health officers inspected the shop and found a lack of hand washing facilities and dirty refrigerators and doors.

They also found staff had failed to address food safety hazards including cross contamination from raw to ready to eat foods and inadequate provision for the storage of waste – and the shop received a hygiene rating of zero at the inspection.

Councillor Rachel Harris, Dudley’s cabinet member responsible for health, said: “This prosecution sends out a clear message that we’re tough on food hygiene. We work very closely with businesses to ensure they know the law and offer help and advice where we can.

“However, in certain cases, prosecution is the only option in our bid to ensure people are protected when buying food in the Dudley borough and we have a zero tolerance of zero hygiene ratings.

“Nearly half of all food outlets in the borough are achieving the top hygiene rating of five and the vast majority achieve a satisfactory rating of three or more."

Ratings for Dudley eateries can be viewed online at www.dudley.gov.uk/foodsafety or at www.food.gov.uk/ratings - and help and advice on complying with the law is also available on the council’s website www.dudley.gov.uk