Cockroach earns fine for Brighton restaurant
AN INDIAN restaurant has been fined £5,000 with £919.25 in costs after a dead cockroach was served in a basket of poppadoms.
The insect was underneath the last of four poppadoms brought to a table in the Akash Tandoori in Preston Street, Brighton, East Sussex.
The incident was reported by customers and an inspection by environmental health inspectors followed in June last year. They found signs of cockroach infestation, food spills on the floor and walls, and a container of raw chicken defrosting without a lid.
Restaurant owner Raifk Miah, 48, admitted six offences relating to food safety. He is now spending £30,000 on improvements to the establishment, in the heart of the town's restaurant area.
David Lewis, defending, said: "It was an unfortunate episode, but now preventive measures are in place."
