A fruit and veg shop owner in Burnley found with rotting lemons, strawberries and pears has been left with a legal bill exceeding £2,000.
Mohammed Sakur, 31, was repeatedly warned about conditions at All-Fresh, in Colne Road, by officials from the Horticulture Marketing Inspectorate, the town’s magistrates court was told.
And when inspector Mary Nightingale and colleague Lynne Bruce raided the Duke Bar premises, reports This Is Lancashire, they found a litany of problems.
When confronted, Sakur, also of Colne Road, insisted other grocers in Burnley were far worse than him.
“Our stuff gets picked through (by customers) and this is what happens. You can’t help that. At least we try and comply,” he reportedly told the inspection team.
Sakur also allegedly insisted that the inspectors should visit the wholesale markets he uses, to check out their produce, before they turned their attentions to him.
The defendant admitted four offences concerning offer for sale produce which contravened European Union regulations on freshness, and seven charges relating to the mislabelling of produce. He also pleaded guilty to the same 11 offences on behalf of All-Fresh.
Magistrates fined both Sakur and the company £550, and also ordered each to pay £500 court costs and £150 criminal courts charge.
Chris Moran, prosecuting on behalf of Defra, said the inspectorate had visited the premises on six occasions, with escalating warnings, before the raid took place on April 15.
The court heard that lemons were found which were rotten in places, and had skin defects over 27 per cent of the surface. Several Williams pears had skin defects and were significantly bruised, on closer inspection. Grapes and strawberries were also found with significant levels of deterioration.
The court also heard that the shop wrongly claimed - on displays or the fruit itself - that French apples were from Britain, and Chilean and South African grapes had been imported from India.
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