Allen’s Bakery in Roath, Cardiff, has been ordered to pay out more than £3,000 for 15 food hygiene offences.

Dirty walls, mould and evidence of a mice infestation were found during an unannounced routine inspection of the business, which supplies baked products, including bread and rolls to approximately 20 businesses in Cardiff. Allen’s also sells pasties, sausage rolls and cakes directly to customers from the business.

Widespread mouse droppings were found on the walls, floor, on wooden pallets and on the outside of flour bags in the store room, during the inspection in October 2018. This prompted the investigating officer to feel there was a risk of contamination to the food, and a voluntary agreement was made to close the business temporarily.

Following the unannounced visit, owner John George Allen, from Hillside Court, Penylan, called a pest control company and was told mice were getting into the storeroom through a damaged skirting board in a cavity wall.

A week after the initial visit, inspectors went to the bakery again, but were still not satisfied with the levels of cleanliness.

On a third visit, three weeks later, inspectors found the structural works to the store room had been completed and the room had been emptied and thoroughly cleaned. In addition, commercial cleaning contractors had undertaken a deep clean throughout the bakery and the walls had been re-painted with mould resistant paint.

Allen pleaded guilty to 15 food hygiene offences at Cardiff Magistrates’ Court last week, and was fined £2,500, ordered to pay costs of £460, as well as a victim surcharge of £120.