Officers from Halton Council’s Environmental Health department have closed Runcorn Kebab House on High Street for the second time in 12 months.
On Friday 15 July, officers successfully applied to Warrington Magistrates Court for a Food Hygiene Emergency Prohibition Order. This follows a routine food hygiene inspection on 5 July which found a number of serious food hygiene breaches. These included:
- Inadequate refrigeration facilities for high risk food
- Inadequate separation of raw and ready to eat food
- High risk food was stored uncovered at room temperature
- Dirty work surfaces and equipment
- The food safety management system was not being followed
- Poor stock rotation and out of date food
- No hygienic means to wash or dry hands.
Officers were of the opinion the premises posed an imminent risk of injury to health and closed the premises immediately. This closure has now been confirmed by the court order.
The premises was previously closed in November 2021. At that time officers prohibited an unsafe and illegal gas installation. As a result the premises was also closed for having inadequate facilities for cleaning and handwashing. The premises was then allowed to reopen once these matters had been removed.
The latest court order will force the premises to remain closed until the risk to health posed by the premises has been removed.
A spokesperson for Halton Borough Council stated: “It is disappointing that the owners of this premises have not learned the lessons from the previous closure in November 2021 and that officers have again had to take emergency action to protect public health. Officers will now consider what further action is required to ensure long term compliance at the premises.”