Managers at Biscovey Fish Bar have spent ‘thousands of pounds’ renovating the location after a container with live maggots within ‘putrid smelling liquid’ was discovered
A fish and chip shop received a zero hygiene rating after a container with live maggots within “putrid smelling liquid” was found alongside “mouldy” chicken and a fly infestation.
Biscovey Fish Bar in St Blazey Gate, Par, Cornwall, was given the Food Standards Agency’s lowest rating and told “urgent improvement is necessary” after an inspection was carried out on July 23. Inspectors from Cornwall Council discovered maggots, rotting chicken and potatoes, food past its sell-by date and found poor standards of structure, food hygiene and cleanliness during their visit.
The location’s managers, who had taken over a few months previous in March, claimed they were blindsided by the grim discoveries, and have spent thousands of pounds on improvements.
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Cornwall Live, which received details of the July 25 inspection via a Freedom of Information Act request, reports the maggots were found and disposed of at the scene. Also found during the inspection were rotting potatoes, flies in the rear kitchen area, raw meat being stored above bagged salad, and chilled items past their sell-by dates.
Investigators also uncovered cooked chicken portions at the back of the under-counter fridge with what appeared to be white spot mould growth. There was also no soap for the hand wash basin in the staff toilets, the report added.
The issues didn’t end with the food, however, as the restaurant also had structural problems, including a handwash basin and staff lavatory without hot water, and a generally “very poor” standard of cleaning. The general disrepair extended to missing door handles, missing and broken wall tiling, a damaged door frame and broken drain cover.
Inspectors noted “clear improvements” during inspections carried out on July 29 and September 4, especially regarding the location’s cleanliness and hygiene practices.
At the time of the initial inspection, the manager of the restaurant said they had been carrying out improvements since taking over in March. He said: “It was mainly structural issues like missing door handles and a door frame that was broken. We took over the place at the end of March and it was quite a state and we have been doing improvements since.
“There were cracked floors and the electric boiler kept tripping so we had to get a new boiler. It’s a continual improvement but we had to open to bring money in to make structural repairs but it’s all done now.
“The inspectors came back in three to four days later on our request and they were happy with the improvements.” The manager added he was not aware of the container of maggots as it was near a boiler he believed had suffered a leak before taking on the location.
He explained: “It was a small metal container that was behind the boiler, so we didn’t know about it and it caught a drip which caused the maggots.
“The actual food sink is about seven feet long and the sink is at one end, with the boiler on the other end of it but it’s still one unit but the container was behind the boiler which we didn’t see. The flies were due to the heat because it was in the summer and it was really hot.”
He said that when the environmental health inspector came back last month, they said improvements made meant they would likely receive a higher rating after re-scoring.
He added they had spent “thousands of pounds” on renovations, saying: “We have spent thousands of pounds since we took this place over, doing all new walling and fixing things. We always had hot water but the inspector didn’t know how to use it. They came in and turned it on full power which won’t work properly if you do that to start with, so you have to turn it on slowly for it to work.
“The reason there were no door handles was because we had to take the handles off two days prior to get a new fridge in but the door has a self-closer on it. It’s just that there was no handle on the outside of the door, that’s all.”