Cockroaches found at Sprinkles Gelato in Portsmouth as firm is fined £5,000

Inspectors found the bugs at Sprinkles Gelato in Commercial Road, Portsmouth, in an inspection on February 20 last year.

Portsmouth magistrates were told there was 'significant cockroach activity present in areas where food was being prepared, handled and stored'.

The store's parent company Sprinkles Gelato 3 Limited, in Portswood Road, Southampton, admitted a five hygiene charges in court after being prosecuted by Portsmouth City Council.

They included failing to take steps to 'protect food produced on the premises from any contamination likely to render the food unfit for human consumption, injurious to health or contaminated in such a way that it would be unreasonable to expect it to be consumed in that state'.

Another charge related to not disinfecting or cleaning servery areas, the cellar store equipment, chillers and freezers effectively or regularly enough.

The firm also failed to have enough hand washbasins in the right place. A hand basin in the rear preparation room was out of use. The one in the front of the store was dirty and obstructed by crockery.

Sprinkles also failed to have the right paperwork under the Food Safety Hygiene Regulations.

The firm was fined £5,000 with £100 compensation, a £170 victim surcharge and £1,571.59 costs to pay to the city council.

The branch currently has a food hygiene rating of two, awarded in May last year.