Enfield: Takeaway shop heaving with cockroaches and rats fined

Cllr George Savva said: 'The huge population of cockroaches on site posed a imminent risk to public health'.

A north London takeaway premises has been prosecuted after inspectors found it heaving with cockroaches and rats.

The "disgusting" infestation was so bad that cockroaches were found crawling on the ceiling as well as inside food packages.

Enfield Council said Ponders End Kebab on Enfield's High Street "posed an imminent risk to public health".

The company and director were fined more than £4,000 at Highbury Corner Magistrates' Court.

Inspectors reported finding cockroaches on the walls, floor and ceiling within minutes of arriving at Ponders End Kebab in Enfield.

Inspectors reported finding cockroaches on the walls, floor and ceiling within minutes of arriving on site, with evidence that they had managed to get into food packages, food preparation areas and storage areas, according to councillor George Savva, who sits on the council's licensing board.

"This was a genuinely disgusting pest infestation which this business failed utterly to control," he said.

"The huge population of cockroaches on site posed an imminent risk to public health and their presence was compounded by inadequate cleaning practices with dirt, food debris and cockroach faeces found in food storage and preparation areas.

"Food businesses need to understand that they are obligated to take the necessary measures to protect the public from harm."

The alarm was raised by a member of the public in August 2020, who complained of spotting a cockroach at the takeaway, and 42-year-old director Kazim Recber was asked to close the business voluntarily on 17 August to get rid of the pests.

However, when the business re-opened and inspectors returned on a pre-arranged visit on 1 March this year, they found evidence of rats in the food storage areas, which was deemed "utterly unacceptable".

Recber, of Town Road, Edmonton, pleaded guilty to 15 food safety offences on 9 December. He and his company, EBM Catering LTD, were fined a total of £4,241.12.