A Birmingham meat wholesaler has been ordered to pay £25,661 after being found guilty of failing to prevent controlled waste escaping from its premises.
Premium Halal Meat & Poultry Limited, based at Unit W5, The Saturn Centre, Bissell Street, Highgate, was prosecuted by Birmingham City Council for an offence under the Environmental Protection Act 1990.
As no one from the company attended court, it was fined £24,000 and ordered to pay £1,541 towards court costs plus a £120 victim surcharge. The business pleaded not guilty on 26th May 2016.
Environmental health officers visited the site on four occasions between 31st March 2015 and 19th June 2015, following complaints about controlled waste – including boxes, invoices and plastic packaging – had been found outside the premises and strewn along Bissell Street.
Councillor Barbara Dring, chair of the Licensing and Public Protection Committee, said: “There is no excuse for businesses to let their rubbish pollute public streets or land, they must have arrangements in place for their trade waste to be collected and disposed of properly.
“Food packaging, especially from meat and poultry products, should be disposed of responsibly as it may carry bacteria such as campylobacter, which can be found on raw chicken and can cause food poisoning.
“We need to respect our neighbourhoods, so it is disappointing to see rubbish being strewn along our streets. Everybody has a responsibility to keep our city’s streets clean.”
This story was originally published on a previous version of the Meat Management website and so there may be some missing images and formatting issues.
