Caterer reopens after droppings and dead rat found

A doner kebab manufacturer forced to close after council health officers found a dead rodent and bird droppings on site has reopened after further inspections.

Kirklees Council's environmental health team visited Halal Catering Supplies Ltd, at Beckside Trading Estate in Batley, in March.

The firm was fined nearly £8,000 for food hygiene breaches. Halal Catering Supplies Batley Ltd, which operated a neighbouring unit, was ordered to pay nearly £20,000 for food hygiene offences.

A spokesperson for the council said changes had been made at the business and inspectors were now satisfied it was safe to reopen.

Improvements included a change of company director and a qualified individual to oversee food production, according to the council.

Councillor Munir Ahmed, cabinet member for the environment, said the authority had helped the business to meet the relevant food hygiene legislation.

"Only when officers were completely satisfied that this business had reached the required safe standard of operation was it allowed to begin trading again," he said.

During their initial visit in March, officers noted poor levels of cleanliness, including rat droppings and flies stuck to a sticky board underneath a pallet of drinks.

In the unit where kebabs were being manufactured they found a pallet of chicken that was more than a year past its use-by date, with no information available to show where it had come from.

On October 24 Halal Catering Supplies BATLEY Ltd pleaded guilty to eight offences and Halal Catering Supplies Ltd pleaded guilty to 19 offences under food hygiene legislation at Kirklees Magistrates Court.

The company re-gained full approval to store products of animal origin and was recently granted conditional approval to manufacture doner kebabs again, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

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