The owner of a filthy restaurant who put the public at risk was fined £30,000 after an investigation by Hammersmith & Fulham Council.

The owners of Woody Grill restaurant and takeaway in 1 Uxbridge Road, Shepherds Bush, pleaded guilty in court to a total of eight offences.

H&F Council’s environmental health team stepped in after complaints from residents who fell ill after eating at the restaurant.

Officers found the restaurant in a filthy condition, including dirty food preparation surfaces, chopping boards and fridge door handles.



The Woody Grill's kitchen

In addition, cooked food was not protected from raw food, animal droppings were found in the back store room with no pest control measures in place and health and safety paperwork was not kept.

The restaurant’s owner, Cengiz Erpolat, was also ordered to pay costs of £4,327.50 and a £120 victim surcharge at Hammersmith Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday 23 February.

Erpolat owns six other Woody Grill restaurants across the capital and has previous convictions for similar offences in neighbouring Ealing.

“When customers eat out the very least they can expect is food that doesn’t make them ill,” said Cllr Wesley Harcourt, H&F Cabinet Member for Environment, Transport and Residents’ Services. “And these failings are also unfair on the vast majority of businesses who invest properly in proper hygiene standards to keep residents safe.

“This heavy fine should serve as an indication of just how determined we are to stop restaurant owners motivated solely by financial gain cutting corners and selling dangerous food to the residents of Hammersmith & Fulham.”



The kitchen area at the Woody Grill



A waste pipe at the Woody Grill



Piping at the Woody Grill

Any suppliers of products shown in these photographs are not implicated in this investigation.