A Middlesbrough pizzeria owner has been banned from managing food businesses for five years after inspectors discovered rats scurrying up walls and shocking hygiene failings during a routine inspection.
The grim discoveries were made at The Pizza Shop on Linthorpe Road during an inspection on 16 August, 2023, where inspectors found live rats, dirt-encrusted surfaces, grease, and food deemed “unfit for human consumption.” An open tray of rat poison lay on the floor as vermin “ran amok” in the premises, Teesside Crown Court heard on 17 January.
Inspectors reported filthy cooking surfaces, dirty equipment, and poor food storage in a walk-in fridge. Even waste pipes, plugs, and cables were covered in grime. Middlesbrough Council deemed the takeaway “an immediate risk of injury to health” and ordered its closure.
When inspectors revisited the premises a month later, after it had resumed trading, they found mouse droppings and lingering hygiene failures, including dirty pizza ovens and fridges.
Tariq Nazir, 56, of Green Lane, Middlesbrough, who ran the takeaway as a sole trader, pleaded guilty to five food hygiene offences. Prosecutor John Crawford said Nazir had a history of non-compliance, with food hygiene issues reported as far back as 2018 and a conviction in 2008.
Crawford described the risks posed by the filthy conditions: “There was a wide range of serious food contamination risks… Nazir must have been at least wilfully blind or had foresight of the risks he was taking.”
Defending, Jonathan Walker said Nazir had since sold the business, apologised, and cooperated with food hygiene officers to address the failings. Walker cited personal challenges, including family bereavements and caring for a disabled family member, as reasons for Nazir’s lapses in oversight.
Judge Richard Clews acknowledged these difficulties but emphasised Nazir’s responsibility: “With vermin and rodents running amok, dirt and filth almost everywhere, and poor storage of food, there was a very high risk of an adverse effect on individuals.”
Nazir was sentenced to a four-month suspended prison term, five days of rehabilitation activity, 120 hours of unpaid work, and £2,500 in costs.
Councillor Janet Thompson, Middlesbrough Council’s executive member for neighbourhoods, praised the enforcement:
“Middlesbrough’s food businesses are vital to our town’s economy, but public health must come first. In extreme cases like this, our officers will act immediately to protect people from serious illness. This sentence sends a strong message that such negligence won’t be tolerated.”
Nazir has also been hit with a five-year hygiene prohibition order, preventing him from running any food business.
