The owners of an ice cream concession in West Kirby have been fined £10,000 by Wirral Magistrates Court after pleading guilty to 10 breaches of food safety and hygiene regulations.
Environmental health officers uncovered dirty conditions, dog hairs and evidence of mouse activity during an inspection of Turners Ice Cream, based at the Marine Lake Building, on South Parade.
The business was closed temporarily due to the imminent risk of injury to health following the inspection last June.
Reliance Marine (Wirral) Limited, which owns Turners, was fined £10,000 this week after pleading guilty to 10 offences under the Food Safety and Hygiene (England) Regulations 2013 which included; failure to protect food against contamination and failure to ensure that all equipment with which food comes into contact was effectively cleaned.
It was also ordered to pay costs of £2,940.42 to the council and a victim surcharge of £120.
Councillor Bernie Mooney, Cabinet member for Environment at Wirral Council, said: “It was clear to officers that the conditions and practices within this premises posed a risk to the health of Wirral residents and also visitors to Wirral as the premises is located in a very popular tourist location.
“Whilst Wirral Council supports local businesses, the conditions and practices found at this premises were totally unacceptable and posed a real risk to their customers.
“In order to protect consumers, officers had no choice but to take formal action to deal with these serious breaches of legislation.
“We have a responsibility to make our high streets healthier, safer and fairer for consumers and businesses.”
