A RESTAURANT recently named the best curry house in England has been convicted of food hygiene offences, York magistrates heard.

Customers at Bombay Spice in Goodramgate were kept in the dark that soya oil used there was genetically modified, said Victoria Waudby, prosecuting.

The food store areas were not kept properly clean, staff didn’t have adequate hand washing facilities and the restaurant didn’t display notices warning customers about foods it used that could cause allergies.

A 77-year-old twice-a-week diner at the restaurant told magistrates through defence solicitor Sukhip Randhawa the restaurant had always been clean and the staff well-trained when he was there.

A year before the offences, the restaurant and takeaway business had won the Restaurant of the Year award in the English Curry Awards.

The company running the restaurant, Milos (York) Ltd, admitted four food hygiene breaches and its sole director Mohammed Ali Akbar, 26, of Malmesbury Road, Small Heath, Birmingham, admitted two. The case was brought by City of York Council. All offences were committed in October 2017.

In 2012, Akbar admitted eight fire safety breaches in a court case brought after a blaze at the restaurant. At the time he was director of the restaurant’s then owners, Bombay Spice (York) Ltd. York magistrates fined Milos (York) Ltd £800 with £700 prosecution costs and an £80 statutory surcharge. Akbar was fined £300 with a £30 statutory surcharge.

Magistrates said the allergy breach could have had serious consequences for customers.

Mr Randhawa said Akbar, who spent nine or 10 days a fortnight at the premises, didn’t know about the council's concerns.

The faults were not serious or systematic, he said, and he had been unaware that the law required him to inform customers about allergies, not rely on them telling his staff.

He had however since improved cleaning regimes, spent £12,000 on renovating the kitchen and now had allergy notices up where staff and customers could see them.