STAFF handling cold meat and cheese to be eaten by customers at a city centre restaurant didn’t have proper hand washing facilities, York magistrates heard.

Victoria Waudby, prosecuting for City of York Council, said they had to rely on using the basin in a customer toilet, when customers were not using it.

Council food hygiene officers were already concerned about hygiene arrangements at L’Antica Locanda in Shambles when they visited it on September 12.

They served an improvement notice on the restaurant, ordering it to install a wash basin in the ground floor storage and food preparation area.

But when they returned to the restaurant on October 31 to check that it had been done, they found staff were still having to rely on using the basin in the toilet.

Giovanni Crobeddu, 47, of Rawcliffe Lane, York, the sole director of the company that owns the restaurant, Gianni Antica, did not attend the first hearing of his case and had to be arrested on a warrant.

When he did attend court, he pleaded guilty to failure to comply with the improvement notice.

He was fined £265 with £400 prosecution costs and a £30 statutory surcharge.

For Crobeddu, Keeley Harrison said: "The business is up for sale and he plans to return to Italy."

Trade had been very quiet recently, she said.

The ground floor area was used to house and handle cold meat and cheeses.

The defence solicitor said a hand basin had been installed in November and that the plumber had been unable to instal it earlier.