Company that ran bloodstained butchers in Reading fined

A company that ran a hazard-strewn butchers shop, where council inspectors found walls stained with blood and pools of blood on the floor, has been fined more than £58,000.

Inspectors also found old meat left in a mincer’s nozzle and too few sinks for people to wash their hands at Kenya Butchers in West Street, Reading, run by KBH Meats Ltd.

The Slough-based company admitted 12 breaches of regulations at the Berkshire premises and its operator, Mohammed Ayub, also admitted 12 breaches.

Reading magistrates told the firm to pay a total of £58,330 in fines, costs and surcharges. Ayub, from Greenford in west London, must pay a total of £5,508.

Reading Borough Council inspectors also found light switches and taps were unwashed and blood-stained cardboard on the floor.

A blade in a bandsaw had been left exposed and ice that had formed in a walk-in freezer left people at risk of slipping, they said.

The company and Ayub, 42, also ran Just Fresh in West Street, but did not tell the council they were doing so and were fined for that omission.

In March 2024, the council said Kenya Butchers was shut down after “extensive rat activity” was found there.

A member of the public had told the authority of their concerns and environmental health officers found rat droppings in “all food handling and storage areas, particularly in the butchery and basement”.

The company was told on 2 May it must pay the outstanding £58,330 by 30 May but Ayub will be able to pay £250 a month from 27 June.