A takeaway owner was fined almost £40,000 after food hygiene inspectors found the kitchen “riddled with cockroaches”.

Kaival Ashokbhai Patel, who owns Taste of Gujarat in Ealing Road, Brent, was ordered to pay up after a series of health breaches at his takeaway.

These included a cockroach infestation, with bugs found in the fridge and the kitchen, as well as issues with food being stored incorrectly at room temperature. Environmental health officers also found the business had no running hot water, which meant staff could not wash their hands or equipment properly.

In total they found evidence of 12 serious food safety breaches, while the shop was forced to close on three occasions between 2014 and 2020 due to a poor hygiene rating.

The business closed again in April 2021 and was only allowed to reopen after it had demonstrated it had decontaminated the shop and made clear hygiene improvements. However, due to its poor record, Mr Patel was summoned to court where he pleaded guilty to all charges.

A judge ordered him to pay £2,933 for each offence, as well as prosecution costs of £3,888 and a victim surcharge of £190. The total fine of £39,274 is the highest handed out for food hygiene violations in Brent. A prohibition order was also issued, which prevents Mr Patel from managing a food business until 2025.

Community safety lead councillor Promise Knight said: “The majority of high street food businesses in Brent have a good hygiene rating, however, there are a minority which operate in a dirty and dangerous manner, putting the health of customers at risk and this is simply unacceptable.

“It should be crystal clear to anybody, but especially a food business owner, that you should not be serving food from a kitchen riddled with cockroaches.

“Our Food Safety Team does not tolerate those who put the community at risk of harm and the penalty issued in this case shows that the court takes this very seriously too.”

Mr Patel told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that the size of the fine had left him concerned about the business’ future. He added: “The shop is open again and it’s much better now. We’ve had new management in place for half a year or so and it’s improved a lot.”