THURROCK Council's leader has issued a strongly-worded warning after the authority clamped down and brought about a prosecution that saw a borough food processing company fined £12,000.

Council hygiene officers visited cheese manufacturer Sunny Ventures Ltd, at its plant on the Thurrock Trade Park off Oliver Road in West Thurrock and discovered a number of breaches of food rules.

At a prosecution enacted at Basildon Magistrates' Court ended not only with the large fine for food hygiene offences but also £8,570 in costs and a surcharge. In addition, company director 49-year-old Gabriele Vitale, of Leigham Court, Streatham Hill, London, was fined £1,875 with costs and a victim surcharge totalling £1,170, with the company secretary Dario Mosca, 33, of Hammelton Road, Bromley, fined £1,250 with a costs and a surcharge of £1,125.

Charges brought included a lack of hot water to the wash hand basins, failure to implement a documented food safety management system and breach of a statutory notice to stop operations until Thurrock Council was satisfied that remedial action had been taken.

Council leader Cllr Rob Gledhill said: "Thurrock Council will not hesitate to take action where businesses disregard hygiene standards put in place to protect consumers.

"Our food team had worked with this manufacturer to improve standards between August 2018 and early 2019 but enforcement had to be escalated when inspections in March and April 2019 found serious non-compliance with food hygiene regulations.

"We will continue to support businesses that are willing to co-operate in order to make sure they meet regulations but will not back down from those that choose to evade them. Consumer and resident safety remains at the heart of all we do."