AN Ellesmere Port takeaway which has been permanently closed over "disgusting" conditions discovered in the kitchen area has been condemned by the council.

The owner of Rossmore Road West takeaway Taste and Smile, 65-year-old Hasan Gazi, narrowly avoided an immediate jail term when he appeared at Liverpool Crown Court on Wednesday, June 10, to be sentenced for 23 offences for food safety and hygience breaches and failing to register as a food business owner with the council.

He was instead sentenced to eight months imprisonment, suspended for 18 months and banned from running a food business. He was also ordered to complete 150 hours unpaid work for the community.

Cheshire West and Chester Council said its environmental health officers "discovered a flagrant disregard" to food safety and hygiene.

The series of offences happened on three separate visits by the officers in January 2019, August 2019 and February 2020, the last of those occasions being the day before Gazi was due to appear before Chester Magistrates Court.

That led an unimpressed Judge Steven Everett, sentencing Gazi on Wednesday, to say he had effectively "stuck two fingers up" at the court system.

The council’s deputy leader and Cabinet Member for Environment, Highways and Strategic Transport, Cllr Karen Shore said: “This sentence demonstrates the extreme nature of the offences involved. Regulatory Services officers discovered continual flagrant breaches of food safety regulations.

“All food businesses have a duty to serve food that is safe and the council has a duty to protect the health of the general public. In this case, officers discovered a flagrant disregard to food safety and hygiene.

“Food businesses that do not comply with the regulations and put the general public at risk will not be tolerated. Thankfully the majority of business operating in Cheshire West and Chester operate to a high level of compliance.

“Officers in our Regulatory Services team work proactively to help business owners comply with legislation and meet hygiene standards and food safety.”

Judge Everett said if people had known the "disgusting" conditions in the kitchen area, they would not have seen it as Taste and Smile but more like "Taste and Grimace".

Environmental health officers found dirty conditions throughout the establishment, including most surfaces being covered with food debris and/or coated with a thick layer of grease, mould in jars, raw meat being stored next to salad and vegetables and pizza topping being stored on a stack of fabric dining chairs.

Of particular concern was a toilet that opened into the food preparation area.

Subsequent visits also found cross contamination and food preparation issues as with the previous visit. Officers were aware of a foul odour upon entry that was traced to rancid, raw chicken in a refrigeration unit.

A visit, the evening before the defendant was due in the magistrates court in February 2020 to answer to existing food safety offences, revealed that no notice had been taken of advice given to him by the officers on previous inspections and the restaurant was in a filthy state.

Defending Gazi, Michael Gray explained Gazi had found himself "incapable" of running the business and had "struggled" as his wife had left the company to focus on full-time care for their children, one of them autistic.

Gazi had struggled to find staff to help him at the takeaway and the business had effectively failed, with nothing of value left in the company.

Gazi was now out of the food business, after 20 years, and was on disability living allowance.

  • Cheshire West and Chester Council operates a paid for advisory service for all food businesses called the ‘GET5’ scheme. Call 01244 973486 for more information or see the council’s website.