Slideshow: Pictures show filth at Portsmouth restaurant

Health inspectors at Portsmouth City Council visited Sarah Restaurant in Fawcett Road, Southsea, to give advice to its boss.

But Bakr Ahmad, 44, failed to take the food safety advice in 2014 soon after he took over the business.

So when inspectors returned a year later in February 2015, they found dirt, grease and bits of food accumulated in food handling and storage areas.

They also found:

n Filthy surfaces risking food contamination.

n Concerns about protecting the restaurant from pests.

n Inadequate hand-washing facilities.

n An installed oven inside a charcoal grill creating an electrical and fire risk.

n Food stored in a dilapidated shed.

There were also concerns about staff training and food temperature control, along with general poor cleanliness and a very poor state of repair.

Ahmad agreed to shut voluntarily to make improvements and then re-open.

But by July, despite repeated visits, he had still not complied with notices ordering him to have a suitable food storage area and food safety system, and get a gas safety check done.

Cllr Robert New, the council’s cabinet member for environment and community safety, said: ‘We try very hard to work with restaurants to make sure they are practising good food safety.

‘But if they ignore our advice then we have to take action to protect the public, including court action if necessary.’

Ahmad admitted 11 food hygiene offences and three offences of failing to comply with notices.

As well as £3,000 in fines, he was ordered to pay a £40 victim surcharge and costs of £1,727.

It comes after the council has prosecuted a string of restaurants and a food shop for similar offences.

But the authority says it only prosecutes less than one per cent of businesses in the city.