TWO kebab shop owners have been ordered to pay around £9,000 each after failing to clean up their act despite several warnings.

Ahmet Temel and Jamal Rashid Safar, both 27, each admitted 16 counts of breaching food safety regulations at the Zam Zam Turkish takeaway in Manchester Road, before Swindon Magistrates’ Court yesterday.

It comes just a month after the owner of Old Town Chinese restaurant Connie’s, Connie Yap, had to pay £34,023 after admitting 11 food hygiene offences.

The pair only started the business after taking the restaurant over in May last year, and the court heard how environmental health inspectors visited in July after receiving a tip-off that it was infested with cockroaches, which they found in small numbers.

Swindon Council’s solicitor Philip Wirth said the duo, who represented themselves at the hearing, had been using the same surfaces to prepare raw meat and ready-to-serve food, had not drafted a written health and safety procedure or identified potential hygiene risks.

Inspectors also found there was grime on the surfaces, ceilings and floors and staff were not trained properly, while on subsequent visits in October and December by council officers, there had been no significant improvement.

Mr Wirth said: “Both defendants had a poor understanding of what they had to do to maintain hygiene standards, which is surprising because they have had quite a bit of experience in the food industry.

“A sample of boiled rice taken on the 19 December 2012 showed unsatisfactory levels of bacteria together with borderline e.coli, which indicate poor practices.

“Cross-contamination is in the forefront of people’s mind who are preparing food and this case could have had serious consequences.”

In his mitigation Mr Temel, of Cassini Drive, said: “I made the mistakes so I have not got much to say. No one got hurt but I know I made mistakes and I feel guilty about that. I will try to be better.”

Mr Safar, of Spruce Court, who is no longer involved in the business, said: “We tried our best and I don’t know what to say.”

In ordering the pair to each pay £6,800 and £2,000 costs in 28 days, chairman of the bench Martyn Cook said: “The consequences of the contravention of these public hygiene and safety regulations could have been extremely serious for the people of Swindon who purchased food from your establishment.

“You had plenty of opportunity over a considerable period of time to comply with these regulations and you both failed.

“The increasing levels of fines for the charges reflect that having had the opportunity to do something about it when you were inspected, you did not do so.”