Chinese takeaway supervisor fined over string of meals security and hygiene laws together with utilizing glue to lure mice earlier than beating them to dying

The manager of a Chinese takeaway, that was closed down for food safety reasons, trapped mice using glue before beating them to death.

Lili Wang used the gruesome and illegal pest control method at the Good Wok takeaway in Bristol Road, Gloucester – a court heard yesterday.

Magistrates in Cheltenham fined the 44-year-old £2,120 and the company she worked for, Good Wok Mings Ltd, £14,918, for breaching food safety and hygiene regulations.

Wang, who was the manager of the business when the offences happened last year, pleaded guilty to seven charges when she appeared in court.

They included failing to prevent food contamination that rendered it unfit for human consumption, failing to adequately control pests, failing to keep the premises clean and in good repair and having dirty food preparation areas.

The charges also included keeping raw food in conditions that could lead to it being contaminated and having inadequate lighting at the premises.

Prosecuting for Gloucester City Council, Sharon Green said its environmental health officer visited the takeaway on March 27 last year after receiving a tip-off that it had mice.

She found mouse droppings in various places and a nest the size of a tennis ball inside a bin containing flour. When the bin was fully emptied, Ms Green said, the officer discovered a live mouse at the bottom of it.

Lili Wang (pictured) used the gruesome and illegal pest control method at the Good Wok takeaway in Bristol Road, Gloucester – a court heard yesterday

Prosecuting for Gloucester City Council, Sharon Green said its environmental health officer visited the takeaway (pictured) on March 27 last year after receiving a tip-off that it had mice

Wang admitted that she had known about the infestation and used traps containing glue, which Ms Green said were illegal, to catch the mice before beating them to death.

Wang told the council that she thought she could catch the animals herself rather than using a proper pest controller.

When the officer found the various problems at the takeaway, she urged Wang to close it down immediately but she didn’t want to do so for fear of missing out on £10,000 worth of trade that coming weekend.

Only when she was told that the council could force her to close it, did she agree to do so.

Ms Green said the takeaway was in such a poor and dirty condition that many more charges could have been brought against it, although the decision was taken to choose seven specimen ones.

Revealing how easy it was for pests to enter the premises, she said: ‘Some of the ceiling had holes, allowing access to the store and the kitchen as a whole.

‘An external door was dirty and there was a large gap where pests could get in. The door frame had rotted away at floor level.’

The prosecutor added that meat had been left to defrost at room temperature, putting it at risk of contamination that could have led to customers becoming seriously ill.

When the council got a pest controller to visit the takeaway, the infestation was so bad that it took two-and-a-half hours to survey the premises rather than the normal 45 minutes.

Bags of flour in the premises were found with holes in them created by the mice that had infested the takeaway 

One upset customer who ordered from Good Wok on her birthday left a review on TripAdvisor showing a fly in her noodles

The court heard that the takeaway was allowed to reopen following an inspection on April 2 that found some key improvements had been made.

It also heard that although Good Wok Mings Ltd is still active, a new company called Good Wok K Ltd has been formed.

Ms Green said that Wang had not provided details of her company director, whom the council believed to be based in China and had not been able to contact.

Defending, Graham Wallace said Wang lived above the shop and her income was ‘particularly low’.

He said: ‘Work has already started and is still to continue to rectify the problem.’

Cllr Sebastian Field, cabinet member for Environment at Gloucester City Council, said: ‘This is one of the worst cases our inspectors have dealt with and showed a blatant disregard for the safety of customers. 

‘Mice can spread disease and viruses that in the worst-case scenario can kill people. 

‘We will always go out of our way to help business owners to operate safely but in this case Ms Wang was simply not dealing with the issue and serving customers in filthy conditions that were frankly dangerous.’