DIRTY premises cost a Chinese restaurant boss £2,850 after he admitting breaching food hygiene rules.

Raymond Chan, who has run the Wing Wah takeaway in Load Street, Bewdley, since 1994, was fined £2,500 and ordered to pay £350 costs by Kidderminster Magistrates. The Wing Wah takeaway.

Wyre Forest District Council decided to press ahead with a prosecution after determining the evidence was sufficient to prove there had been a potential risk to public health.

Environmental health chief Rob Key said it was rare to pursue this course of action, adding it was at least two years since the council had prosecuted anyone for this offence.

Magistrates were shown photos taken by environmental health officers at the takeaway at about 7pm on Wednesday, August 15 last year.

Nick Howard, prosecuting, said: "The premises were dirty throughout."

The pictures showed dirty walls and floor in a covered yard area as well as an open bin containing food waste.

A refrigerator was found to be in "a mouldy condition" while food was stored in a cellar where the floor was covered in dirt and food debris.

Chan, of Bartley Green, Birmingham, was cautioned.

However, when they returned days later officers found there had been a "great improvement".

Chan had hired an industrial cleaning contractor, which said in a report the premises had been poorly maintained for some time, were "significantly dirty" and there had been a potential threat to public health.

Mr Howard said: "The decision to prosecute isn't something the council takes lightly."

But he praised Chan, who sobbed during the hearing, for his co-operative attitude and said he had since trained staff in correct hygiene procedures. This was Chan's first offence of any kind, Mr Howard added.

Stephen Allen, defending, said the prosecution had "shaken Mr Chan and his wife to the very core".

"Mr Chan's fear is palpable when I have spoken to him about this," he added. The couple have two children, one of whom is autistic.

Mr Allen said Chan had brought in regular pest control. Since the visit he had spent £1,200 on cleaning and £800 on other improvements to the takeaway.