Cornish bakery ordered to pay nearly £6,000 after rat infestation

Food safety inspectors found evidence of a rat infestation at the bakery in March 2017 Credit: Cornwall Council

A Cornish bakery has been ordered to pay more than £6,000 after an inspection found a rat infestation and rotting food.

St Keverne Bakery near Helston pleaded guilty to six food hygiene offences from March 2017.

These included not having adequate procedures in place for pest control and putting unsafe food on sale.

Inspectors found food that was more than two years old and decomposing Credit: Cornwall Council

Cornwall Council's food safety team shut down the bakery unit at Treskewes Industrial Estate in St Keverne over concerns about public health.

Inspectors found evidence of rat droppings in food rooms and cakes and pasties that were almost two years out of date and decomposing.

Owner Simon Phillips was fined a total of £319, a victim surcharge of £31 and ordered to pay the Council’s costs of £5,691.

The bakery was told it can start running again if it proved appropriate pest control procedures were implemented.

This was completed four days after the inspection.

Further inspections at St Keverne Bakery have shown 'great improvements' since being ordered to cease production last year.