THE head of food safety chooses her words very carefully when commenting on the prosecution of cousins Golam Choudary and Shamsuddoa Chowdury for ten offences which breached health laws.

The chairman of the magistrate’s bench chose not to impose a closure order on the cousins, citing as justification his reluctance to ‘take away anyone’s livelihood.’ I feel sure the people of Broadgreen and, indeed, anyone who may have shopped at Baracka Groceries will be amazed at the decision, especially as the scale of offending was so great and furthermore it was not an isolated incident or even the first time the cousins had found themselves before the courts.

The environmental team within the council has a hard task monitoring shops and restaurants, their job is made even harder when having identified incidents of manifestly poor food handling and a total lack of hygiene control, the perpetrators are allowed to continue trading.

DES MORGAN Caraway Drive, Swindon