TWO operators of the Red Sea restaurant at The Green in Southall were handed suspended prison sentences for running the business in a manner described as ‘utterly unsafe’.

Mohamud Adam and Abdinasir Ali were each sentenced to a period of eight months, suspended for a year. Both were also sentenced to a 12-hour curfew for four months and ordered to pay a contribution towards legal costs of £1,200.

During the sentencing at Isleworth Crown Court, the judge said when the restaurant was inspected by council officers it was found in ‘a simply dreadful state’.

Photos presented to the court showed rat droppings throughout the cooking and public areas, accumulated filth on switches and taps and a filthy food mixer.

The judge said it was only because there were no reports of illness to the public that an immediate prison term was not set.

Elsewhere in the borough, Ealing Council has been awarded legal costs of nearly £800 after seeking the emergency closure of the Sakurah Lounge on Coronation Road, Park Royal.

Operating primarily as a shisha lounge that also served food, the property was forced to close after food hygiene officers uncovered evidence of rats and mice throughout the venue.

The lounge has since re-opened following extensive cleaning and pest control measures.

Cllr Ranjit Dheer, cabinet member for community services and safety, said: “People running food businesses take on a heavy responsibility and, if that responsibility is shirked, as it was in these cases, the public are put in danger.”