Bakery slams council's rat problem claims saying they reviewed wrong building

03 April 2023 , 23:38

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The supermarket was forced to pay £74,000 after dead mice and rats were found scattered around the store where food was made (Image: Enfield Council / SWNS)

A popular family-owned bakery has hit back at council inspectors who said the premises had a rat problem - with rotting , dead rodents found on site.

However, Yasar Halim bakery, in North London, claimed the council confused its bakery with its supermarket in a different location.

In late March, a spokesperson from Enfield Council described the Yasar Halim bakery in Southgate as a "significant risk to public health", with inspectors saying they also found rat droppings and a fly infestation on the site.

The statement came a week after the company was fined £48,000 on March 21 and owner Mehmet Yasar Halim was ordered to pay £26,000 at Highbury Corner Magistrates Court relating to a council investigation in 2021, reports MyLondon.

But, in a statement released in response to the council, Mr Halim called the authority "unfair", highlighting that the bakery's branch in Southgate hadn't even been opened at the time of inspection in October 2021.

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Yasar Halim Supermarket, at 2B Hedge Lane, Southgate, is a large, continental-style supermarket with an open cooked food area, a bakery, a butcher’s counter and supermarket (My London/BPM Media)

Yasar Halim in Winchmore Hill Road, Southgate was opened in May 2022 and currently has a food hygiene rating of 5 out of 5, according to the Food Standards Agency. The chain's supermarket in Southgate, in Hedge Lane, meanwhile has a rating of 3 out of 5.

Mr Halim does not deny the failures mentioned in the council statement, having pleaded guilty to them in court, but pointed out that they applied to a different branch of his business, the Yasar Halim Supermarket in Palmers Green, also in the Enfield borough.

The owner also pointed out that the store subsequently cleaned up its act, later receiving a hygiene rating of 3 in a follow-up inspection in June 2022.

Dead rodents and their waste products at Fresh Valley Foods Ltd, trading as Yasar Halim Supermarket (Enfield Council / SWNS)

Mr Halim said: "I would like to point out the statement released by Enfield Council has inaccuracies, and it was reported very unfairly. It doesn't mention that the inspection took place in 2021.

"It doesn't mention we got a three-star rating on our next revisit. It doesn't mention the building improvements we have made to make sure it doesn't happen again."

My Halim added that he thought it was "wrong" for the council to allege that the bakery ignored the warnings of inspectors, saying "we wouldn't have got our three-star rating on our next visit from them".

Dead rodents and their waste products at Fresh Valley Foods Ltd, trading as Yasar Halim Supermarket (Enfield Council / SWNS)

He continued: "They also initially released a posting mistakenly stating it was the Southgate branch, which has a five-star rating and was not even open in 2021.

They made out that this happened on the 23rd of March 2023 when it actually happened back in October 2021."

In an earlier statement, the bakery said the issues regarding the hygienic conditions of their branch in Palmers Green arose "due to factors experienced by most businesses in the country with the perfect storm of Brexit, the loss of highly skilled migrant workers, and the impact of Covid".

The supermarket was forced to pay £74,000 after dead mice and rats were found scattered around the store where food was made (Enfield Council / SWNS)

The bakery owner also clarified that the company and the director pleaded guilty, rather than being "found guilty" as the council had suggested, and that the court found that the company had procedures in place but had "fallen short on this occasion" and had taken "considerable steps" to remedy the issues raised.

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Enfield Council later amended its statement to take into consideration the points raised by Mr Halim, who is now encouraging people to visit the premises and see the improvements that have been made by the business, which started in 1987 and has several branches including bakeries and supermarkets across London including in Haringey, Highgate, Palmers Green and Southgate.

Abigail O'Leary