Takeaway’s half-chip, half-mouse combo

DISGUSTING: the decomposed creatures found on a glue trap in the cellar

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A OLDHAM magistrate told a pair of takeaway owners he wished he could impose a harsher punishment when they appeared on 10 counts of breaching food hygiene regulations

Three decomposed mice, mouse droppings in spice mixes and around the premises, dirty cleaning cloths, a rusty freezer and a lack of water for hand washing were among the horrors discovered by health officers at the Oldham Fisheries in Union Street, Oldham - since closed for good.

Magistrates’s chairman Joe Farquhar fined Iram Bibi of Corona Avenue, Hollins and Sarfraz Rouf of Cheetham Hill Road, Manchester only £250 each, plus over £1,190 in costs.

He said the state of the shop was so appalling he wished he could have hit them with a much tougher penalty.

The court heard that it was apparent during the visit by health officers that food handlers hadn’t been trained in food hygiene.

Rouf said he had been having problems with his landlord but admitted the state of the premises was unacceptable.

Mr Farquhar said: “This is an appalling case and if you were still trading your fine would be a lot higher. You say you don’t have a vast knowledge of food hygiene but it only takes common sense to know what a bad state your takeaway was in — how can anyone not know that mouse droppings in food is unacceptable? I cannot believe the state Oldham Fisheries was in when it was inspected.”