Rat-infested Knowsley bakery owners banned over food safety

A dead rat was found at the bakery in Knowsley

Owners of a "filthy" rat-infested bakery on Merseyside have been banned from managing food businesses.

Food supplies were found to be gnawed and a rat was discovered in a bucket at Bakery Quality First Ltd, Knowsley in a routine inspection in January.

Inspectors said the factory, which produced pastries for Polish shops, was "an imminent risk to health".

Pawel Steglinski, Marcin Hajduk and Piotr Kowalczyk admitted breaching food hygiene regulations.

Environmental health officers from Knowsley Council carried out a routine food safety inspection at Bakery Quality First Ltd, a factory which made pastries for shops across the north of England, on 12 January 2023.

Officers found the factory in Kirkby to be in a filthy condition and rat activity throughout the premises, the authority said.

Margarine was gnawed by rats

Food was found stored in areas where there was rat activity and some had been gnawed by rats.

The floor of the production room was contaminated with debris and the factory was in a very poor state of repair, which allowed rats to enter the premises.

A dead rat was also found in a bucket near to where food and packaging was stored.

The owners of the factory were told the premises posed an imminent risk to health and voluntarily closed it with immediate effect, a Knowsley Council representative said.

The Food Standards Agency ordered a withdrawal of foods produced by the business.

It was filthy and there were rats throughout the factory, the council said

Knowsley Council prosecuted the directors of the company after it went into liquidation.

The directors admitted failing to comply with food safety and hygiene regulations and were sentenced at Liverpool Magistrates' Court.

Steglinski, 49, of Sapling Crescent, Kirkby and Hajduk, 40, of Warrenhouse Road, Kirkby were each fined £1,000 and ordered to pay £1,200 costs and a £400 victim surcharge.

Kowalczyk, 52, of Warrenhouse Road, Kirkby was also fined £500 and ordered to pay costs of £1,175 and a £200 victim surcharge.

All three were given an indefinite prohibition order banning them from managing a food business.