Dead pigeon in restaurant kitchen

ENVIRONMENTAL health inspectors visited an all-youcan-eat buffet restaurant and found a dead pigeon decomposing in the kitchen as well as an infestation of cockroaches.

A court heard how a customer spotted a cockroach on the dessert display counter at Cosmo in Swansea’s Castle Street and reported the restaurant to the council.

The premises had already been handed a zero food hygiene rating by Swansea council when it was taken over by Fea Moss Limited last August. Weeks later a customer reported the cockroach sighting to the authority and environmental health officers paid a visit.

Officers discovered evidence of sticky tracks under units and evidence of cockroach infestation near the ice cream scoop storage area as well as dirty wall junctions and tiles.

They also came across the dead pigeon decomposing in the kitchen “while lunch was carrying on as normal”.

Prosecutor Felicity Lewis told Swansea Magistrates’ Court: “Officers were concerned there was an imminent risk to health.”

The director of the company, Yanrui Yi, had told officers of her intention to close the restaurant for refurbishment but when they returned in November – after the business had changed its name to Nines Global Buffet – they once again found hygiene failings.

Mitigating, Aled Owen said the company had pleaded guilty to six food hygiene charges, including failing to ensure the premises were clean and free from pests.

He added that Ms Yi “indicated remorse and a sense of shame at being in this position...which weighs heavily on her”.

Sentencing chairman of magistrates Jan Langton fined the company £10,500 each for the offences related to the discovery of the dead pigeon and the cockroaches, while fines of £1,000 were handed down for each of the other four offences. She also ordered the company to pay costs of £830 and a £170 surcharge.

She said: “It was very fortunate no member of the public was taken ill as a result.”