ALMOST half a tonne of food belonging to a Swindon caterer is to be destroyed after he was caught taking a delivery of raw meat - from a pet food supplier.

Royly Da Silva, 37, of Salisbury Street is the owner of Royal Food, which supplies Goan and Indian food to various events, including last year’s Swindon Goan Festival.

During an investigation into the pet food company last week, Da Silva was spotted buying the meat in unmarked bags from a truck which was not refrigerated.

When questioned he confirmed all his meat was bought from the pet food supplier but could not say exactly where the meat came from and there were no invoices.

Upon further investigation it was found he was storing food in a garage behind Bright Street in a “disgraceful” condition, forcing environmental health officers to seize 450 kilograms of food.

Swindon Borough Council therefore went before Swindon Magistrates’ Court on Monday to request an emergency order, to have the food destroyed and prevent him from using the garage.

Phil Wirth, speaking on behalf of the council, said: “During a joint operation with the police involving a suspected pet food supplier delivering meat to Swindon, Mr Da Silva was apprehended taking a delivery of raw meat from a pet food supplier.

“The meat was being distributed in an unrefrigerated van which was used predominantly for pet food delivery with no clear separation between the products.

“There were sacks of meat which were being delivered as pet food with no identifying marks and so could easily be confused with those sacks delivered as food for human consumption.

“The van which the meat was delivered on was dirty and bags of meat were either on the floor or in Dolavs [plastic boxes] which stored the pet food meat and offal.”

The Royal Food catering company website boasts a five-star food hygiene rating, which the company received on previous inspections.

However, Da Silva failed to disclose the separate garage where much of the food was stored to the inspectors.

“The conditions found within what was actually a garage/lock up were disgraceful,” said Mr Wirth.

“It was cluttered with old, filthy accumulations of old food containers, littered with dust and cobwebs, food equipment including three upright refrigerators which were turned off and a large circular barbecue grill which [was] recognised from the Goan Festival 2014.

“The room was open at the far end and led to a garden/back yard so access by pests could not be removed.”

Within the garage was a chest freezer packed with food, which Da Silva confirmed was intended for use at an event in London due to be attended by up to 15,000 people.

Mr Wirth said: “The freezer in which the food was stored was filthy, littered with old food debris and congealed blood, there were dead flies lying in the bottom.

“There were Goan sausages hanging in the lockup in a plastic bag and Royly Da Silva was not clear about when and where these were prepared.”

Chairman of the bench, Helen Toomer, agreed with council and granted the requests. Da Silva was present in court and representing himself but did not speak to defend his case.