Health inspectors found mouse droppings within a box of ice cream cones at Caffe Cream in New Brighton, Merseyside, and an ice cream manufacturing unit known as The Doo Group
Health inspectors found mouse droppings in a box of ice cream cones inside a filthy café which has been heavily fined.
Wirral Council brought a prosecution against David Dooley and two of his businesses – Coffee on the Lake Ltd, which operates Caffe Cream in New Brighton, Merseyside, and WWR Projects Ltd, which operates an ice cream manufacturing unit known as The Doo Group. Gross photos showed droppings next to a box of cones and scoops, while another shows droppings inside a box of cones. Another image shows mouse droppings under a serving counter, while a freezer was also pictured looking filthy, Liverpool Echo reported.
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Caffe Cream of New Brighton was inspected in March 2023 and evidence of mouse droppings were found at various locations throughout. It also identified a defect with the main entrance door at the café where the frame had a gap large enough to allow pests, such as mice, into the building.
The external pest control contractors reports for the café revealed there had been an active pest problem at the café for some time. The inspection also found evidence of poor cleaning, issues over the dating and labelling of food and concerns with some food hygiene practices.
The findings of the March inspection led to a warning letter being sent to the business summarising the findings of the inspection and awarding a food hygiene rating of zero. A further inspection at the request of the company in July 2023 found while some improvements had been made, there was still evidence of mouse droppings.
Coffee on the Lake Ltd, the defendant company for Caffe Cream of New Brighton, was fined £28,000, ordered to pay costs of more than £17,000 and a victim surcharge of £2,000. WWR Projects Ltd, the defendant company of the ‘Doo Group’, was fined £30,000, ordered to pay costs of more than £16,000 and a victim surcharge of £2,000.
Mr Dooley, as the director of both companies, was fined £2,800 plus a victim surcharge of £1,120. The offences took place in 2023 and resulted from inspections carried out by Wirral Council Environmental Health Officers.
The case brought against David Dooley and WWR Projects related to the premises, The Doo Group, where 36 different flavours of ice cream are produced supplying a chain of cafés in Wirral and a restaurant in Liverpool, and was the result of an inspection in April 2023. The case presented to the court showed there had been a history of poor compliance in relation to the control of pests at the business since 2017.
The offences identified during the inspection related to the cleanliness and condition of the unit. There was risk of food contamination identified and there wasn’t adequate procedures in place to control pests, with mouse droppings evident throughout the premises.
The District Judge hearing the case agreed that the conditions found at both companies, for which the Dooley had control, put them in the highest category of potential harm – the conditions could have resulted in a serious, adverse effect on people, including people who are vulnerable, with the potential of widespread impact.
Due to the failings of both companies, they were also held to have high culpability, with the District Judge concluding the director had shown ‘wilful blindness’.
