74455-05AN INDIAN takeaway owner has been fined for lacking basic hygiene standards having ignored council pleas to clean up his act.

Abdul Tarif, who runs HotCurry.co.uk on Commercial Road, failed to curry favour with Swindon Magistrates yesterday after pleading guilty to two charges of not adhering to basic food hygiene.

He was fined £500 for each charge and ordered to pay £3,076 costs.

The prosecution came after a routine inspection by food standard officers in February, last year, when the outlet was called Marhabba.

Coun Jemima Milton, lead member for environment and property, said: "This sends out a very clear message about the hygiene standards the council's public protection department expects local people to be able to enjoy in Swindon's eating establishments.

"We do not take prosecutions lightly but public safety is our top priority.

"The vast majority of Swindon restaurants and takeaways are professional and well-run and it is important that we make sure that a minority of transgressors do not spoil their hard earned reputation." Tarif had also previously been warned about the standards of food hygiene at his premises on eight previous occasions between May 1995 and May 2002.

Problems included the risk of cross-contamination, insufficient washing facilities, no hazard analysis system, and no temperature monitoring.

Having found similar problems on the date of the inspection he was given a deadline to clean up his act.

The inspection concluded that Tarif's knowledge of food hygiene was lacking and he was told to put in place a food management system by a given date.

He was also required to ensure that both he and his staff undertook a basic food hygiene training course.

But he failed to do any of this.

Tarif has been the owner of an Indian food takeaway trading under various names in Commercial Road for more than 10 years and has been in the industry for more than 20 years.

Jamie Hill