THE OWNER of an Indian restaurant in Park North has pleaded guilty to 18 food hygiene offences.

Roubel Meah of Zeera in Cavendish Square, appeared in Swindon Magistrates Court after Food Standards Agency inspectors repeatedly found numerous breaches of health and safety regulations in the takeaway's kitchen.

The business prepares and sells kebabs, burgers, salads, and Indian cuisine. Mr Meah has owned the business since June 17 2009 and works there with his brother and father.

Details of the extensive list of charges against Mr Meah, which date from February 15 2017 to July 27 2017, were relayed to the court.by the prosecution from Swindon Borough Council, Mr Wirth.

He said: “During a visit on February 15 2017, an Environmental Health officer met with Mr Meah’s father and brother as he was not there.

“The father did not wash his hands after handling raw meat or change aprons, and he placed raw meat on the kebab skewers while walking around the work surfaces in a way which risked germ contamination.

“Plug sockets and fittings were covered in grease, and equipment was in an extremely poor state of repair.

“The chopping boards were heavily-scored, mouldy, and stored behind the kitchen taps.

“There was no blue paper roll dispenser for staff to dry their hands and there were no cleaning chemicals on the premises.

“The takeaway container storage area was covered in thick grime, the temperature gauge in the fridge was broken and covered in mould, cloths covered in mould were still being used.

“The same cling-film dispenser was used to cover both raw and cooked meat, a container of raw mince was placed next to cooked rice.”

Inspectors gave out food safety improvement notices and carried out four further visits but matters did not improve.

Mr Wirth added: “There was no evidence that staff preparing the food were being trained or supervised, and there were no procedures in place to control cross-contamination, and there was a continuation of filthiness.

"The fridge was still covered in food debris a bag of prawns had split open and spilled out over the shelf.

“The father said he head a reasonable understanding of but didn’t know the allergen information for certain kebabs and burgers.”

Mr Meah represented himself during the hearing but was urged to get a lawyer before his next court appearance on May 2 in Swindon Magistrates Court.