A KEBAB van owner has been told to pay more than £3,500 after a court heard the food he was selling was a danger to the public.

Elvan Acar, owner of Peeps Mobile, which was based in Drakes Way, was found guilty of six offences contrary to food hygiene laws.

His van did not even have hot water for the workers to wash their hands and clean the utensils properly.

And the kebab meat was being cooked at the right temperature for poisonous bacteria to flourish.

Acar, 42, of Goring, Milton Keynes, was fined £250 for each offence by magistrates and ordered to pay costs of £2,075, making a total of £3,575. He has 28 days to pay.

Janice Bardwell, Swindon Council's safety and food team manager, said officers would continue to target any dirty food outlets to protect the public.

"We went on a routine inspection and we had drawn matters of concern to the owner's attention on a number of occasions before," she said.

"We have a staged enforcement policy where if a business is not responding then obviously for public safety we have to take further action.

"Things were wrong. The boiler was broken so they had no hot water to wash their hands and clean things effectively. The chopping boards were filthy and equipment had not been cleaned.

"The storage of food was wrong and there was a high risk of cross contamination.

"The doner kebab meat was at 55 degrees, at that temperature food poisoning bacteria could grow. It should have been at a minimum of 63 degrees. The cheese should have been at eight degrees but that was at 15 degrees in the fridge.

"There was a high risk of food poisoning and the public were at risk from the way it was being handled.

"The people serving the food were not wearing clean clothes."

Ms Bardwell added: "Many of the vans in Swindon are actually very good and they do know what they are doing.

"A huge number of the businesses in Swindon do work hard and comply with the law and keep people safe, but if we find somebody is not prepared to work and put things that are wrong in order, obviously, in the protection of public safety, we have to take the matter to court.

"This van was very poor, it had just been allowed to deteriorate and had been like that for some time.

"As we have just seen with Cadbury's being fined, it doesn't matter if you're big or small, you will be prosecuted."

The offences, from March 27 2006, included failing to maintain and monitor any steps in the activities of the food business, which is critical to ensuring food safety and failing to supply any hot water.

Acar also failed to ensure food handlers maintained a high degree of personal cleanliness and that food was placed so that it was at risk of contamination.

The fifth charge was that he did not make adequate provision for the cleaning utensils and disinfecting and he failed to make adequate arrangements for maintaining and monitoring suitable food temperatures.