A care home in Burnham has been fined more than £33,000 after inspectors found it had repeatedly broken food hygiene laws.

The owners of the Lent Rise Care Home in Coulson Way, Burnham, were found guilty of seven charges of food hygiene offences at Reading Magistrates on April 4.

The Freemantle Trust Ltd was fined £33,000 and ordered to pay costs of £8,932 plus a victim surcharge fee of £125.

Environmental Health Officers carried out the first of their visits to the care home on August 15, 2017, and found poor conditions that required major improvement, giving the home a score of one out of five for food hygiene.

A subsequent unannounced visit on October 17, 2017, found that the business had addressed the majority of issues raised and no further action was required.

Less than two months later, on December 22, 2017, the Care Quality Commission visited the home and told the council they were concerned about the state of the kitchen.

Environmental Health officers subsequently revisited on December 27 and found a lack of suitable training and supervision of staff, a lack of adequate management systems, poor hand hygiene and ineffective cleaning.

Food had been left on warm heaters, there were cross contamination risks and food was found to be past its ‘use by’ date. Inspectors gave the home a score of 0 and legal proceedings started against the home.

The situation hadn’t improved on a revisit on January 4, 2018 when officers revisited the premises. Three food hygiene improvement notices (FHINs) were served on the trust.

Standards had improved on a revisit to the home on January 23, but some issues remained. Officers remarked that the FHINs had been partially complied with on February 12.

An unannounced inspection on March 14, 2018, saw the home receive a score of five, the highest rating possible. A subsequent inspection last month saw the home receive another five rating.

Councillor Patrick Hogan, South Bucks District Council portfolio holder for environmental health, said: “In south Bucks, most food businesses have good or very good food hygiene standards.

“When we find there are problems, officers work closely with businesses to help them improve but when they fail to follow advice, we have to use formal action, as we did in this case.

“I’m pleased to report that the Fremantle Trust has now achieved a very good food hygiene rating.”