Restaurateurs banned from running any food business

The former owners and operators of a Norwich-based restaurant have been banned from running any food business, after being found guilty of a number of serious food safety offences.

Father and daughter Geoff Brooke-Smith and Nicola Lloyd, who ran the Greens restaurant in Aylsham, pleaded guilty to 13 charges of food hygiene offences and were ordered by magistrates to pay fines and costs of £21,000.

The pair were prosecuted after environmental health officers discovered "appalling" conditions at their restaurant during an inspection of the premises in August last year.

Inspectors found containers of rotting food as well as various parts of the premises covered in dirt and food debris. There were insufficient hand-washing facilities ovens were coated in dirt and a pool of dried blood was found at the bottom of a fridge.

Inspectors said the state of the restaurant presented a "significant health risk to customers".

Brooke-Smith and Lloyd have been banned from running any food business. The Greens has been under new management since November and the new owner invested £500,000 on refurbishing the restaurant, including new kitchens and a bar area.

"These offences are historic," a spokesman for the new owner told the Norwich Evening News.

"We uphold the highest hygiene standards. Food labelling is something we take very seriously."

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By Kerstin Kühn

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