Owner of South Norwood Chinese restaurant fined £2,000 for failing to deal with mouse infestation

A man has been fined £2,000 for failing to deal with “a mouse infestation throughout the kitchen” of a Chinese restaurant in South Norwood – after previously denying there was a pest problem at the business.

Lin Hong, of Portland Road, was handed a hefty court bill by magistrates which amounted to £6,530 – after the 49-year-old pleaded guilty to four charges relating to failing to comply with food safety regulations.

The charges came about after the New Moon Restaurant, also on Portland Road, was visited by hygiene officers from Croydon Council on behalf of the Food Standards Agency on March 15, 2016.

The South Norwood Chinese restaurant was one of 18 business to be given a zero-star food hygiene following inspections in 2016.

The New Moon now has a three-star rating after improving its standards and being reinspected in January.

Explaining the reasons for the lowest possible score Hong insisted New Moon had “no issues with rats or pests or the way we stored the food”.

He told the Advertiser: “They said the extractor fan above the cooker was dirty and the grills weren’t cleaned properly. We now clean them much more regularly.”

However, after his denial the 49-year-old appeared at Croydon Magistrates’ Court this morning (Tuesday) where he admitted four food hygiene offences.

Aided by an interpreter, Hong pleaded guilty to the first charge which related to him “failing to keep the New Moon Restaurant premises clean and maintained in good repair”.

He was fined £400 and ordered to pay a £170 victim surcharge in addition to court costs of £3,030.

Hong was also fined £400 after “failing to effectively clean and disinfect all articles, fittings and equipment which food came into contact with”.

Another £400 fine was handed to Hong after he pleaded guilty to “failing to put in place, implement and maintain a permanent procedure based on hazard analysis and critical control points principles”.

Finally Hong was fined £2,000 after he admitted a charge of “failing to put in place adequate procedures to control pests [when] there was an active mouse infestation throughout the kitchen area of the New Moon restaurant”.

At the end of the hearing the court heard Hong explain he couldn’t pay the bill there and then, so a collection order was made by the magistrates meaning he has to pay the bill within 14 days or organise a payment plan.