Leeds coffee shop is fined after food safety inspection

Azad Aziz, representing Coffee Mania Ltd, in Brudenell Road, pleaded guilty when he appeared before Leeds magistrates.

Aziz was fined £4,000, ordered to pay a £120 victim surcharge and was told to pay costs of £1,582.50.

Leeds City Council’s environmental health officers inspected the Hyde Park café in November 2015 and found a general lack of cleaning, dirty chopping boards and grills and broken equipment and utensils. No soap or towels had been provided in the kitchen or staff toilets. The wash hand basin in the serving area had no soap and staff couldn’t get to the towel provided due to obstructions.

The council said that during the inspection, officers saw staff handle raw meat then prepare salad and bread without washing their hands in between. It added that although the manager in the store at the time of the inspection produced a copy of their food safety manual, it had clearly not been used nor had safe methods been used to protect customers.