THE owner of a Hale Barns wedding venue has been fined £39,500 after health inspectors uncovered ‘shocking’ lapses in hygiene.

Trafford Magistrates Court ruled that Davenport Green Hall be shut down for failing to meet food hygiene and safety standards.

Officers found that the marquee kitchen and tented areas at the hall were in a very poor structural condition; routine cleaning was inadequate; there were no hand washing facilities; there was no hot and cold water to the sinks; drains were blocked and there was a serious accumulation of food waste and other refuse.

Davenport Green Hall Ltd were fined £39,500 and ordered to pay £21,500 in costs after pleading guilty to ten food hygiene and two health and safety offences.

The court also banned owner, Mohammed Isaq, from operating this or any other food business until further notice.

The court heard that Environmental Health officers made an unannounced visit to Davenport Green Hall in August 2013, following a complaint about hygiene standards from a guest who had attended a wedding reception there.

The company agreed to voluntarily close the marquee and did not re-open it until they had made improvements. These included supplying hot and cold water to the sinks, fitting a hand basin and cleaning and disinfecting the kitchens. However, even after these initial improvements, follow-up visits revealed that hygiene standards had deteriorated once again.

Following these visits, six hygiene improvement notices were served which related to lack of training, lack of hot water to hand basin and sink, lack of food safety management systems, poor refuse storage and lack of pest control.

Serious health and safety issues were also identified during visits, which resulted in prohibition notices being served for gas safety, electrical safety and a slippery kitchen floor.

Councillor John Reilly, said: "A wedding is one of the most important days in people’s lives and couples will often spend a large amount of money to ensure that they have the perfect day.

“When people eat out they will expect, as a minimum, that their food is prepared in hygienic, well-managed kitchens.

“The fact that these poor standards of hygiene and safety were found at a wedding venue is particularly shocking.

“We expect all food businesses to take food hygiene and health and safety very seriously, to do everything they can to protect their customers from food poisoning and to ensure the safety of their staff and visitors.

“We will work with businesses to help them improve and maintain standards, but we will not hesitate in taking formal action against those who put the public or their employees at risk."