Pizza Hut franchise owner fined £39,000 after branch found crawling with rats

The director of a Pizza Hut franchise has been fined more than £39,000 after his branch was found to be infested with rats.

Alhassan Goussous pleaded guilty to failing to control pests at his restaurant on Chingford Mount Road in Waltham Forest, London.

Inspectors closed down the premises following a tip-off from a member of the public.

They found the establishment crawling with rats, as well as droppings, with signs of poor cleanliness and inadequate pest proofing.

Goussous’s firm, GH Pizzas Ltd, formerly MHAJ Pizza Ltd, operates 24 Pizza Hut locations across the capital.

According to companies house, it has annual takings of £14.5 million.

Goussous, 64, also operates restaurants under other popular high street brands, including Wendy’s.

The Waltham Forest Pizza Hut reopened in November 2021.

It was most recently given a food standards rating of 3 out of 5 following an inspection in June this year.

Goussous admitted to one charge of failing to control pests at Stratford Magistrate’s’ Court on October 14.

He was handed a fine of £23,500 and an additional £15,690 in costs, all of which he must pay within six months.

Cllr Khevyn Limbajee, Waltham Forest’s Cabinet Member for Community Safety, said: ‘While I am pleased that by closing the store, council Environmental Health Officers were able to remove a threat to public health and safety, it’s unfortunate that the business was unable to get on top of long-standing issues relating to cleanliness and pest control.

‘While the penalty in this case is significant, it is only a small measure of the seriousness of this offence and our determination to send a message to other food business operators who fail to take necessary measures to protect the public.’

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