Council hygiene inspectors find evidence of mice, rats and drain flies at fast-food outlet in Church Street

The Subway branch in Enfield Town and (inset) a mouse found inside (credit Google/Enfield Council)

Franchisees of a Subway branch in Enfield Town have been ordered to pay more than £20,000 in fines and costs for breaching food hygiene, pest control and contamination regulations.

At a first inspection in November 2021 Enfield Council’s environmental health food safety team identified drain flies, a lack of cleanliness, mouse droppings and a live mouse stuck to a sticky glue board trap. The premises voluntarily closed at this time as it posed an imminent risk to public health and was given a food hygiene rating of ‘zero’.

Subsequent visits to the premises found a hole in the wall, mouse droppings in the cupboard located on the first floor in the customer seating area, gaps around pipes that needed sealing, rat droppings near a rear waste pipe in washing up area, an electric fly killer not working properly and continued evidence of drain flies and mouse droppings in the till area.

Although the Subway branch at 42 Church Street has since reopened, its food hygiene rating as of March 2023 is still only ‘one’ meaning ‘major improvement necessary’.

SRAJ Subs Limited, which operates the franchise of the Subway restaurant, and its three company directors, Md Abdul Basher, Sk Zakir Hossain and Sk Kabir Hossain pled guilty to all the charges. SRAJ Subs Limited was fined £6,000, Basher was fined £2,751, Hossain fined £1,347 and Hossain fined £1,684. The company was ordered to pay a contribution to the council’s costs of £9,146.77. The final total including fines and costs for the case was £20,928.77.

The company was prosecuted for breaching food safety regulations for pest control, prevention of contamination, failure to keep the premises clean and in good repair and a failure to implement and maintain a permanent hazard procedures.

A spokesperson for Subway said: “The health and safety of all guests is of paramount importance to Subway. All stores are regularly audited to review compliance with our operational excellence policies and franchise owners are expected to maintain high food safety standards in their stores.

“The franchisees of this particular store have been working with Enfield Council and are taking immediate action to improve their rating and another inspection has been scheduled and paid for. Once available, we look forward to sharing the result of the reinspection.”

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