The owners of a well known Pembrokeshire holiday park have been fined for food hygiene offences.
At a hearing today, Haverfordwest Magistrates fined Kiln Park in Tenby a total of £10,000 after the park pleaded guilty to four food hygiene offences.
The offences were discovered after Environmental Health Officers from Pembrokeshire County Council’s Public Protection Division visited the park in October 2009 following a complaint.
Officers found evidence of a rat infestation within the food premises, including a recently deceased rat, a large number of rat droppings, nesting material and gnawed products. The premises was also in a poor state of cleanliness.
The conditions were so substandard that the food areas were closed immediately by the inspecting officers. A Hygiene Emergency Prohibition Order was subsequently granted by Haverfordwest Magistrates Court keeping the premises closed until work was undertaken to remove the imminent risk to human health.
Kiln Park Estates pleaded guilty to four charges under the Food Hygiene (Wales) Regulations 2006 relating to the cleanliness of the premises; the construction of the premises not being so as to permit good hygiene practices including in particular, pest control; foods not being protected from the risk of contamination and the company having inadequate procedures in place to control pests.
At the court hearing the company advised the court that a large capital expenditure programme had been implemented at the Holiday Park since the incident, to improve standards.
They were fined a total of £10 000, with costs of £4,779.41 being awarded to Pembrokeshire County Council.
Councillor Ken Rowlands Pembrokeshire County Council Cabinet Member for Environmental and Regulatory Services said that conditions found at the premises were totally unsatisfactory for a food business operating within Pembrokeshire.
“Large companies such as this should be able to ensure that their premises are kept clean, effectively managed and free from rodent infestations that can put the health of their customers at risk,” he said.
