A VILLAGE hotel has been fined �5000 after failing to clean up an area of its property strewn with overflowing refuse bags. At Harlow Magistrates Court, Philip Davies, the designated premises supervisor at the Whitehall Hotel in Broxted, was also ordered

A VILLAGE hotel has been fined �5000 after failing to clean up an area of its property strewn with overflowing refuse bags.

At Harlow Magistrates' Court, Philip Davies, the designated premises supervisor at the Whitehall Hotel in Broxted, was also ordered to pay �571.93 costs and a �15 victim surcharge.

He had previously pleaded guilty to not complying with a statutory notice served on him by Uttlesford District Council (UDC) that required him to clear waste from the ground in the hotel's waste storage area.

UDC first visited the hotel on July 15, after receiving a complaint about flies and odour. The officer who visited discovered waste spilling onto the floor from split refuse sacks, a shed completely full of additional waste, and a large quantity of waste oil cans. Fly larvae were found developing on top of the oil cans and houseflies and blowflies were flying around the bins.

The unhygienic mess constituted a statutory nuisance, so a notice was served to the hotel requiring the cleaning of the area by July 20 and for better long-term waste management.

However, a return visit on July 21 found the waste area to be in even worse condition than before the notice was served. The environmental health officer discussed the situation with the operations manager at the hotel, who assured her that the area would be cleaned up immediately.

Despite these assurances, the area was not cleaned up to a satisfactory standard and a continuing presence of a strong odour, flies and wasps left the district council with no choice but to take the hotel to court for continuing to pose a threat to public health.

Geoff Smith, UDC's head of environmental health, said: "The conditions in the waste area of the Whitehall Hotel were completely unacceptable and causing a nuisance and a health hazard for people living nearby.

"The hotel's management were given plenty of time to clean up the unsanitary conditions but failed to do so, despite being served a statutory notice.

"We will when necessary pursue through the courts businesses that pose a risk to public health, and as this instance shows, that can lead to substantial fines.