The owner of an Ellesmere Port pub has been fined and ordered to pay more than £6,000 for food hygiene offences.

Environmental health inspectors from Cheshire West and Chester Council (CWaC) found the kitchen of The Cheshire Yeoman pub in Little Sutton in a ‘generally unhygienic’ state when they visited on January 28 last year.

As well as grease and dirt, they also discovered a contaminated ice machine and out of date Cornish clotted cream in the fridge.

Out of date clotted cream was found in the kitchen at the Cheshire Yeoman pub in Ellesmere Port

Owner Peter Andrews, 52, had previously pleaded guilty to eight offences, under food safety and hygiene legislation in respect of offences occurring at the pub and he appeared for sentence at Chester Magistrates Court yesterday (Thursday, May 5).

The court heard that following the first inspection on January 28 2015, the pub received a food hygiene rating of 1 – meaning urgent improvement was required.

However, two further visits were carried out in May and September 2015 where similar conditions were found, despite the previous visits from the Environmental Health Team.

The court fined Peter Andrews £4,000 and ordered him to pay prosecution costs of £1,906.

The ceiling of the kitchen inside The Cheshire Yeoman pub

Councillor Mark Henesy, Cabinet Member for Environment and Communities, said: “The safety of customers must be the top priority for any food business and food safety officers within our Regulatory Services Team work proactively to help business owners comply with legislation and meet hygiene standards.

“The Cheshire Yeoman was originally targeted as part of the Regulatory Services Better Business Project in January 2015, which inspected poorly rated food premises with a food hygiene score of less than 2,” he added.

“We have secured several prosecutions recently as a result of this highly successful project. When food businesses fail to accept our support and put the public’s health at risk, we have no other option than to take the matter to court.”