A Mansfield store has been ordered to pay a total of £6,334 after the shop failed to abide by a notice requiring food hygiene improvements and to an order banning it from selling unpackaged raw meat.
The order and notice had been put in place at Bil Bolek I Lolek Mansfield Ltd in Stockwell Gate after inspections by Environmental Health Officers from Mansfield District Council found breaches in food hygiene regulations at the store in 2024.
Company director Honar Rafik pleaded guilty at Mansfield Magistrates’ Court on 5 June to breaching a Hygiene Improvement Notice (HIN) and a Hygiene Emergency Prohibition Order (HEPO).
The Judge fined the company £1,000 for breaching the HIN and £1,200 for breaching the HEPO. The company was also ordered to pay a £880 victim surcharge and £3,254 towards the prosecution costs.
The store was required to make improvements after a visit by council officers in March 2024 resulted in a food hygiene rating of zero.
Concerns included:
- Raw meat and cooked foods not being kept refrigerated at 8C or below and no records or means to monitor the temperature of the foodstuffs.
- Cheese being kept in a fridge at 11C.
- A lack of processes in place to prevent cross contamination between raw meat and ready to eat cooked food.
- Cooked meats without ‘use by’ labels.
- Slicers on butchery and deli worksurface that did not appear to be clean.
- Staff working on the butchery and deli counter not wearing protective clothing and not following safe food hygiene practices.
- Inadequate bins for food waste.
- Inadequate food hygiene training for staff.
After the inspection in March 2024, officers served a Hygiene Emergency Prohibition Notice (HEPN) on the business banning it from selling unpackaged raw meat. A HIN requiring improvements was issued in May 2024 and a revisit to the business one month later revealed a breach of this Notice. A subsequent visit to the store in May 2025 revealed the HEPN (by then a court authorised HEPO) was also being breached and the council decided at this stage to pursue a prosecution.
The store has since made improvements and achieved a food hygiene rating of three.
After the case, Cllr Angie Jackson, Joint Portfolio Holder for Wellbeing, Health and Safer Communities, said: “Ensuring good food hygiene is a vital function of the council in ensuring public safety.
“We never like to have to pursue legal action against food outlets who fall short of the rules. Our officers prefer to give them the chance to improve but sometimes businesses do not take those opportunities, and prosecution remains the last sanction.
“I am pleased this store now has an improved hygiene rating. We want businesses to be successful in this district - but we also want them to be safe too.”