THE owner of two rat-infested shops in Boughton, Chester, is to be sentenced at the crown court.

Victor Vimakshan, 29, of Walting Court, Great Boughton, pleaded guilty at the first opportunity to 16 offences on behalf of himself, in his role and director, and on behalf of the two shops, Chester Convenience Store and Chester Booze, both on the main Boughton street.

Prosecuting on behalf of Cheshire West and Chester Council at Chester Magistrates Court on Wednesday, January 31, Ian Moore said local authority inspectors visited Chester Booze on November 30, 2022, and found it was "dirty and rat-infested".

They also found the store was selling illegal 'Elux 5000' electronic cigarettes, commonly known as vapes, as they contained five times the recommended amount of nicotine-containing liquid.

Counterfeit cigarettes were also found – 15 packs of fake L&B cigarettes and 10 packs of fake B&H Gold cigarettes.

Inspectors also visited Chester Convenience Store on March 16, 2023, and found it too was "dirty and rat-infested", which posed a "significant health risk", with a total of eight food safety and hygiene breaches.

Prosecution photos of the inspections, seen by the Chester Standard, showed rat droppings at the premises, filthy doors and toilets and piles of rubbish strewn across the floor.

Vimakshan showed "wilful blindness to the offending," Mr Moore added.

Defending, Janaka Siriwardena agreed the case was too serious for magistrates to deal with, and the case should be sentenced at the crown court.

Magistrates handed Vimakshan unconditional bail and he is to be sentenced at Chester Crown Court on Wednesday, February 28.