Morrisons supermarket in Wales fined £750k for dirty bakery

A dirty Morrisons bakery has left the supermarket with a £750,000 bill to pay.

The family run chain was fined £737,000 - cut from £1.1 million because of an early plea - and costs of £11,221.38, as well as a £2,000 victim surcharge.

It came after a routine inspection at its Cwmbran branch in August 2024 by Torfaen council environmental health officers uncovered multiple violations.

Among these were poor cleanliness, dirty equipment, inadequate staff supervision and food safety management failures.

They found 51 flaws in the store's food safety management, which bosses had known about for more than a month.

The bakery was shut immediately for deep cleaning.

Judge Sophie Toms told Newport Magistrates' Court on Thursday the case was not about a few rogue employees but that there were serious and systemic failures.

She said Morrisons had risked customers' health and safety and perhaps put lives at risk.

After the case, the council's public protection chief, Daniel Morelli, said: "The council will not hesitate to take formal action where the health and well-being of consumers is placed at risk."

Morrisons said: "We were very disappointed in the condition of the bakery in August 2024.

"It fell far short of the standard our customers expect and that we should provide.

"This was a single local issue which was dealt with immediately by working closely with the council.

"The improvement made has been consistently maintained."