Inspectors found a 25-day-old chilli deemed unfit for human consumption at the Anchor and Hope pub

A pub has been fined after inspectors found its kitchen had filthy floors, mouldy equipment... and 25-day-old chilli.

A series of disgusting discoveries were made during a routine inspection at the Anchor and Hope pub, in South Ash Lane, Ash.

Pub owner Cawdor Country Inns Limited has been ordered to pay a total of £4,850 by magistrates after pleading guilty to four food hygiene offences.

Food and dirt was found beneath the sink at the Anchor and Hope pub

The company was prosecuted by Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council after environmental health officers found:

• Found unfit for human consumption, including 25-day-old chilli con carne with slimy white growths on the surface; 15-day-old cooked chicken with a slimy surface that had a greenish/yellow tinge; a six-week-old box of baby tomatoes in oil that looked discoloured and slimy with patches of greenish mould growth; and tomato paste with chillies and herbs for making curries that had lots of white furry patches of mould.
• Dirty scales and blender parts. The interior of the ice machine was covered with black mould and other pink growths.
• The premises was generally dirty, especially kitchen floors, walls, doors, door handles, microwave and sinks. The external vegetable store had a leaking roof, there were signs of damp and rotting vegetables and there were holes on either side of the door that could allow vermin to enter.
• Poor stock rotation checks as well as smoked salmon and mussels with confusing and inadequate labelling that had been kept too long after defrosting.

Sevenoaks Magistrates' Court heard the pub had been given food hygiene warnings and advice before the offences were recorded last February.

Cawdor Country Inns Limited was fined a total of £2,350 and ordered to pay £2,500 costs after admitting four offences.

The Anchor and Hope pub, in Ash, has been fined over food hygiene offences

These were placing food on the market that is unfit for human consumption; failure to keep a food premises clean and maintained in good repair and condition; failure to keep all articles, fittings and equipment with which food comes into contact clean and, where necessary, disinfected; and failure to implement and maintain a permanent food safety management system.

Improvements have since been made to the pub, which is now rated with two hygeine stars (meaning it is broadly compliant) following an inspection last August.

Cllr Howard Rogers, cabinet member for environmental services, said: "I'm pleased to hear that hygiene standards at the Anchor and Hope public house have now improved but the fines imposed by the magistrates have emphasised the seriousness of the offences, which could have had serious repercussions for customers."

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