Dudley pub landed with £10,000 court bill over mice found at premises
The owners of a Dudley pub have been ordered to pay more than £10,000 – after environmental health officers found evidence of mice at the premises.
The Bramford Arms, in Woodsetton, was inspected in October 2019.
Environmental health officers found pest records which said there had been a problem with mice in the dry stores at the Park Road pub since July 2019. But work identified as necessary to remedy the problem had not been carried out.
The operators of the pub, Greene King Retail Ltd, pleaded guilty to a single offence under food hygiene regulations at Dudley Magistrates Court. The company was fined £8,000 and ordered to pay court costs of £2,107 and a victim surcharge of £170.
Greene King apologised and told the court that the problems should have been addressed by the local management team, which had now been replaced.
Councillor Nicolas Barlow, Dudley Council's cabinet member responsible for environmental health, said: "I welcome the decision of the court to impose this significant financial penalty.
"The premises had identified the problem themselves and put a plan in place to deal with it, but unfortunately our inspectors found this was never carried out.
"It potentially put the health of people eating there at risk, and the decision of the court sends out a warning to other pubs and restaurants to keep their premises clean or face a heavy financial penalty."
