The council's photo shows some of the issues officers found. Credit: Reading Borough Council

An Asian sweet shop in Reading has been hit with a huge fine after serious failings were found with its food hygiene.

Sandhu Enterprises UK Limited, a franchisee of Ambala, in Oxford Road, was slapped with a fine and court costs totalling more than £37,000.

Reading Borough Council discovered the poor hygiene as part of an investigation into an outbreak of food poisoning caused by the bacteria Clostridium perfringens - normally found in raw meat and poultry.

There was not enough evidence to suggest the food poisoning came from the shop, however, three visits by the council between August and September 2017 revealed very poor food safety management practices.

Council officers found food wasn't heated or cooled correctly, there was no stock rotation system and no covering of high risk food.

The company was given a Hygiene Improvement Notice for its failure to implement a food safety management system.

At a hearing at Reading Magistrates' Court on Friday, October 26, the owners admitted 11 charges under the Food Safety & Hygiene Regulations 2013.

They were hit with a fine of £30,000 and £7,112 court costs.

Councillor Graeme Hoskin, Reading’s lead member for food safety, said: “This successful prosecution shows the council’s commitment to protecting consumers from unsafe food hygiene practices.

"We take food violations very seriously and I want to thank our officers for their extensive work which has seen these food company owners held accountable for their actions.

“Whilst the vast majority of food outlets are responsible and meet the high standards of food safety, here is an example of offenders who did not appear to take those responsibilities seriously.

"There is no excuse for these kinds of breaches of basic food hygiene.

"This sends out a clear message that public safety remains a priority and poor standards will not to be tolerated.”

Since being prosecuted, the business in West Reading, Berkshire, has invested in additional equipment to help with temperature control and staff have been retrained.

The last inspection moved the store's hygiene rating from one star to three.

Ambala, a national company with 22 stores, is not implicated in the case.

Sandhu Enterprises runs two stores in Reading and Slough, and the other 20 are nothing to do with the company.