Gosport bakers banned from food trade after 'stomach turning' hygiene failings
Dead flies and rotting produce were found at Phoenix Bakery and Café on Gosport High Street
The owners of a bakery in Gosport have been banned from food trade after rotting vegetables and dead flies were found in the kitchens by Environmental Health.
Nicholas Green and his wife Rosslyn, both plead guilty in April to 11 counts of failing to comply with food hygiene laws between January and August 2025.
They were sentenced at Portsmouth Crown Court on November 2 by Judge Daniel Sawyer, who said he had seen “stomach turning photographs” taken by Environmental Health, including “freezers thick with dirt” and “dead flies found in the microwave”.
Other violations included bacon found sitting in yellow substance, which Environmental Health were told was orange juice, cooked and uncooked meats next to each other in the same fridge, multiple items frozen into one block and a box of margarine with finger marks in it.
Environmental Health officers also found rotting lettuce in one of the bakery’s fridges, but were told by Mr Green that: “it’s fine if you take off the outer layers, you can just use the inner part.”
The Phoenix Bakery was shut down after it received a zero food hygiene score in July 2026, with critical failures reported in hygienic food handling, the condition and cleanliness of facilities, and the management of food safety. A new business, Alby And Alfie Café And Bakery, now operates out of the same premises on the High Street, and Mr Green is currently listed on Companies House as the sole director. Alby And Alfie Café And Bakery currently has a food hygiene rating of two.
In his sentencing remarks, Judge Sawyer said that food hygiene levels were “somewhere between woeful and non-existent”, and said that the lack of evidence of any customers being taken ill was “surprising”.
He said to Mr Green: “You appear to believe that this is all some vendetta from the Environmental Health officers.
“You appear to think ‘I have been in this industry for 52 years I know what it is like.’ It is clear Mr Green has no intention of changing his ways.”
Mr Green was ordered to serve 50 hours of community service as well as pay £5,000 in costs. Mrs Green, who the judge said had a supervisory role in the business, was given a conditional discharge and ordered to pay £2,108 in costs.
They were also both subject to a Hygiene Prohibition Order, meaning that neither of them can own or operate a food business unless a further order is given by the court.