Horror at London restaurant as customer spots cockroach - then inspectors find hundreds

A restaurant was found to be infested with "hundreds" of cockroaches after a horrified diner spotted one crawling across their table. The eatery in Harlington, West London was fined nearly £20,000 after food hygiene officers discovered the insects on the premises, as well as dirty cooking equipment and unlabelled prepared food. Harlington Tandoori, trading under the name Heathrow Tandoori Limited, and its manager Joshua Money, 31, appeared at Uxbridge Magistrates' Court on Tuesday. Money admitted to seven offences for failing to comply with food hygiene regulations.

Hundreds of cockroaches were found throughout the restaurant, including the bar, main kitchen and external stockroom by council food hygiene and safety officers after an unannounced visit in September 2023. It followed a customer complaint that a cockroach had made its way across their table. Dirty cooking equipment and unlabelled prepared food was also found, reports My London. Mr Money agreed to close the restaurant immediately due to the severity of the infestation.

It is not the first time the restaurant has been forced to close because of problems with the insects. In 2023, a specialist contractor came in to deal with the infestation, before the business was given the green light to re-open in October the same year. Despite this, officers witnessed a range of hygiene offences during inspections and served the Harlington Tandoori with two hygiene improvement notices on December 13, 2023.

A further inspection on February 20, 2024 found that while there had been some improvements, there were still failings. Mr Money was ordered to pay a total of £2,607 - including a £512 fine, £205 victim surcharge and £1,890 to cover the council's prosecution costs. He was also handed a hygiene prohibition order, which prevents him from participating in the management of a food business for 18 months.

Heathrow Tandoori Limited was ordered to pay £19,891.75, including a £16,000 fine, £2,000 victim surcharge and costs of £1,891.75. The business had previously been convicted in November 2018 and fined £4,933 for failing to prevent pests, rats and cockroaches, and failing to maintain clean premises and hygiene standards. Cllr Eddie Lavery, Hillingdon Council's Cabinet Member for Community and Environment, said: "This is a shocking case, where despite a previous conviction and multiple improvement notices, this restaurant consistently failed to uphold basic standards of cleanliness, putting residents' health and safety at a high risk, and as a consequence they must now pay the price for their actions.