A takeaway owner has been fined thousands of pounds after admitting waste management and licensing offences.
Reza Bahmanyar, owner of Castle Pizza on Chillingham Road, Heaton, pleaded guilty to serving hot food after 11pm without a licence.
He also failed to provide any evidence of proper waste disposal arrangements.
In July 2018, a complaint was made that the pizza shop was using household waste bins to dispose of rubbish.
Bahmanyar was unable to produce transfer documents to Newcastle City Council officers to demonstrate he was dealing with waste properly.
He was given a £300 fixed penalty notice which he failed to pay.
Officers from the council carried out test purchases at the takeaway in September 2018, following a complaint and review of social media posts.
They purchased hot food after 11pm, despite the premises having no licence to sell it that late.
Bahmanyar pleaded guilty to the waste management and licensing offences at North Northumbria Magistrates’ Court on Friday, May 24.
For the licensing offence, he was fined £430 and ordered to pay £430 officer costs, £85 legal costs and a £40 victim surcharge.
For the waste offence, he was fined £1,077 and ordered to pay £204 officer costs, £85 legal costs and a £107 victim surcharge.
The court also heard that Bahmanyar has eight previous convictions for food hygiene offences.
Coun Nick Kemp, Newcastle City Council's cabinet member for environment, said: “This takeaway has been operating with complete disregard for regulations which exist to ensure people’s safety.
“This prosecution shows how seriously we take matters of people flouting the law with officers from both licensing and environmental health working together to bring this man to justice.
“People who break the rules that help protect our communities will be prosecuted and I’m grateful the courts have imposed these hefty fines which I hope will act as a deterrent to other unscrupulous business owners.”
