Holland Park Avenue restaurant prosecuted by Council8 October 2003The owner of the "Sarah” restaurant at 176 Holland Park Avenue has been fined a total of £2000 after Kensington and Chelsea Council found appalling standards of hygiene and food safety in the kitchen, food storage and preparation areas. The owner, Mr Ahmed Ebeid, appeared before Marylebone Magistrate’s Court last week (1 October) to deny the charges. However, following a two day trial, he was convicted on five counts of lack of cleanliness and a further six related to food stored at the premises in such a way as to be at risk of contamination. In addition to fines totalling £2,000, Mr Ebeid was also ordered to pay the Council's legal costs of £5000. The Court heard how Kensington and Chelsea environmental health officers discovered a catalogue of food safety breaches during a routine inspection on 23 January last year. These included dirty floor surfaces, greasy microwave interiors and a chopping board ingrained with dirt. Food storage was also unacceptable with dirty and grimy food storage jars and food unprotected from contamination by dirt and pests. There was also an absence of elementary cleanliness procedures. Kitchen workers failed to wash or wear protective clothing before preparing food and the staff had not received basic food hygiene training. Neither did they know the temperature at which the walk-in chiller should operate. In summing up, District Judge Roscoe, said that while the Environmental Health Officer’s evidence was "reliable and convincing" she found Mr Ebeid to be "evasive", and she added that she wasn't convinced his evidence "bore any relationship to the truth". Cllr. Richard Walker-Arnott, Cabinet Member for Environmental Health, said: “I hope this restaurant will now raise its game. We are watching it closely and if it doesn't, more severe action will follow." For more information contact Media and Communications.
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