A hospitality company trading in Needham Market has been fined more than £2,600 after it plead guilty to six food safety offences.

Magistrates sitting in Ipswich on Tuesday, September 18 heard that Mid Suffolk District Council carried out two inspections of the Limes Hotel in High Street, where J& R Hospitality traded from, on November 22 last year and again on May 23.

On the first visit, inspectors found that there was no food safety management system in place. They also found that the company was placing unfit food on the market and that premises were poorly maintained and unclean.

Following a routine visit to the hotel in May, inspectors concluded that no improvements had been made, leading to formal action being taken by the council.

Simon Smith, prosecuting on behalf of the council, told the court that on both occasions, the hotel had been given a food hygiene rating of zero.

Fines for the first three offences in November totalled £1,000, with the three from May costing £1,666. Full council costs of £570 and a victim surcharge of £170 were also awarded.

Robert Read, representing J&R Hospitality, said that he had been working long days and had not had enough time to manage the hotel’s kitchen.

A follow up inspection was completed on 13 September, with Food Safety Officers reporting that they were happy with the conditions.

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