AN AWARD-WINNING chef has been fined £800 after mouse droppings were found on food in his restaurant in Chatham.

Jakir Chowdhury, 29, appeared in court after health inspectors found contaminated vegetables in a rear store at the Royal Tandoori.

Chowdhury won Medway Council's Medway Curry Chef competition three years running and gained national recognition.

The council has prosecuted him for breaking food safety laws and he appeared at Medway Magistrates' Court where he pleaded guilty to four charges.

The case against Chowdhury, the New Road restaurant's executive chef and manager, stemmed from a visit by environmental health inspectors on October 25, 2002.

The first charge was having food for preparation and sale, which was found to be contaminated with mouse droppings. These were tomatoes, cucumbers, aubergines, garlic cloves, peppers, cabbages, lettuces, cauliflowers and mooli. For this he was fined £600.

Chowdhury also admitted failing to ensure that food was protected against any contamination likely to render it unfit for human consumption and was fined £100.

The third charge was failing to ensure that food premises were kept clean and maintained in good repair and condition. The floor, ceiling, wall and shelving of the kitchen were found to be dirty along with the floor of the store area adjacent to the kitchen and the floor of the first-floor store.

The fourth charge was failing to ensure that all articles, fittings and equipment with which food would come into contact was kept clean.

There were fines of £50 for each count and Chowdhury was ordered to pay £400 costs.

On sentencing, magistrates said they had taken into account his early guilty pleas.

They also heard that he had voluntarily closed the restaurant after the incident, that further inspections found no other problems and that he had since sent staff on hygiene courses.

After the court hearing Chowdhury revealed he had sacked the duty manager responsible for hygiene after the council swooped on the premises. He said he had been on leave at the time but came straight back when he was told about the trouble. He voluntarily closed the Royal Tandoori for six days.

He said: "It should never have happened. The person in charge didn't properly supervise the cleaning of the restaurant. I sacked him and voluntarily closed the restaurant until all the regulations were met.''

Chowdhury stressed that all this had happened well over a year ago. Subsequent council inspections found the restaurant to be in a satisfactory state and it was now business as usual for the premises.

Chowdhury won first prize in the Medway Curry Chef Competition for three years from 2000 to 2002. The annual contest is organised by the council's environmental health team.

In 2002 he attracted national recognition after winning the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health regional curry chef competition for the second year running.