A NATIONAL pub and restaurant chain has been fined more than £152,000 for operating with a dirty kitchen and storing out of date food at its premises in Newport.
Greene King Retailing Limited received the fine as a result of Newport City Council’s Environmental Health team visiting the Tredegar Arms pub on Caerphilly Road in Bassaleg, following a complaint by a member of the public.
The officer found a number of food hygiene failings on two visits to the Greene King-owned pub on July 17 and July 20, 2017, which resulted in it receiving a hygiene rating of zero.
Greene King pleaded guilty to seven charges of failing to keep food premises and equipment clean, and where necessary disinfected, and failure to implement and maintain food safety procedures.
The pub now has a food hygiene rating of four, after addressing the issues that were found in the 2017 visits.
Greene King pleaded guilty to seven charges of failing to keep food premises and equipment clean, and where necessary disinfected, and failure to implement and maintain food safety procedures.
The case was heard at Newport Magistrates’ Court on Friday, November 9 this year.
The court heard that when environmental health officers visited the premises they found poor standards of cleaning including dirty fridges, ovens and chopping boards.
They also found out of date food, in particular a package of 12kg of sausages which were over two weeks out of date and a chicken found defrosting at room temperature.
A follow up visit by the officer three days later revealed more problems including fridges and freezers not working and part cooked chicken found at temperatures that would allow bacteria to grow.
The company pleaded guilty to seven charges and agreed to pay the council’s full legal costs of £13,000.
In mitigation the company apologised unreservedly and accepted that standards – particularly in the kitchen – were unacceptable.
Councillor Ray Truman, the council’s cabinet member for licensing and regulation, said: “Officers from environmental health were extremely concerned to find a pub operated by such a large company in such a condition and it was appropriate for the council to take the company to court in order to reinforce the message that food hygiene must be taken seriously.
“The issues found at the pub had the potential to make customers seriously ill. I am grateful to the member of the public who contacted the council with their concerns and for the hard work of officers in bringing this case to court.”
A spokesperson for the Tredegar Arms said: “The rating for which this fine relates to was 18 months ago. It occurred during a period of just a few days during a management change-over.
“Up until this point the pub held the best possible food hygiene rating.
“We took immediate action at the time to rectify the situation and re-instate our usual high standards.
“The pub has since had a number of inspections and we are pleased to say it has held a four star rating for over a year.”
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