Islington Tribune - by MARK BLUNDEN Published: 8 June 2007
Record fine: The Pepperpot takeaway
Takeaway fined £5,700 for dumping fast food
A TAKEAWAY restaurant has received a record-breaking fine for dumping rotting meat and animal bones in the street. Highbury Corner Magistrates’ Court found the owners of Pepperpot Caribbean fast-food restaurant in Essex Road, Islington, guilty of flytipping on Friday.
The owners, who failed to turn up and answer charges, were fined £5,700 and ordered to pay £1,800 in costs – the highest total ever for an Islington business.
Magistrates heard how Town Hall officials, searching bin bags for evidence, discovered rotting cooked food and raw chicken pieces outside the shop, causing “heavy staining to the pavement”.
The charge was brought by the Islington trading standards team under the Environmental Protection Act 1990.
The court was told that Pepperpot had committed a number of offences.
A Town Hall spokesman said: “Officers were concerned at the repetition of the offences and the apparent unwillingness of the defendants to comply with their legal obligations as advised to them by the street environment officers.”
Pepperpot Caribbean Takeaway and Home Delivery, which is still trading, did not respond to requests for a comment.