THE owners of a ‘dirty’ Latchford takeaway have been fined after admitting numerous breaches of hygiene regulations.

Adnan Jemneh, aged 46, and Mohammed Chouchane, aged 42, own Petra Pizza on Knutsford Road.

Warrington Magistrates Court heard last Wednesday how hygiene rules were ignored.

Ready to eat food was kept next to raw burgers, and knives used to prepare food, and boxes used to store food, were dirty.

The fridge and freezer were also dirty, and in poor condition, while a dirty wire scourer was also found.

There was no food management system in place, required by law, panels were missing from the ceiling, and the room used to prepare food was dirty.

The failings were uncovered during an inspection by environmental health officers on July 29, last year, following complaints from customers.

Malcolm Hope, prosecuting, said the food hygiene record in Petra Pizza had not been amended for two years.

“A temperature monitor was in pieces,” he said.

“It is needed to ensure food is cooked properly, and stored properly at the right temperature.

“The premises were inspected two weeks later and some improvements had been made, but it shouldn’t take the intervention of environmental health.

“A manager said inspectors had come on a bad day, but problems had built up over time.”

The court heard Chouchane, from Wigan, told inspectors ‘staff could have been lazy due to fasting over Ramadan’.

The defendants had been cautioned in 2011 for problems at the same takeaway.

When asked to explain the breaches by magistrates, Jemneh, of Marbury Street, Latchford, claimed to have been ‘unaware of the situation’.

He said: “I was away when this happened. When I came back, I started work with the health inspector.”

Chouchane said: “We have been in regular contact with the health inspector. We have improved, changed the ceiling, new fridges. We have done everything.”

Both defendants, dressed smartly in court, pleaded guilty to eight counts of failing to comply with a specified community provision.

They were both fined and told to pay costs totalling £1,265 each.

The money will be paid back at £50 a month.