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Restaurant operator fined for food hygiene breaches

Amanda DellorSouth of England
News imageReading Borough Council Red curry and assorted brown meats being stored in open stainless steel containers. Some is covered in cling film. A close-up of a hand on the right of the picture shows a thermometer with a reading of 22.9C. Reading Borough Council
Inspectors found that food was not being being stored at the correct temperature

A firm that runs two Indian restaurants and takeaways must pay more than £19,000 in fines and costs for repeated food hygiene breaches.

The two Biryani Boyzz restaurants and takeaways in Oxford Road and Wokingham Road, Reading, Berkshire, are run by Hungry Budd Ltd of Bath Road, Hounslow. They were found to have consistently poor food hygiene standards.

Reading Borough Council food and safety officers found a range of serious failures when they visited the food outlets between January and October 2025.

This included unclean equipment and utensils, a lack of controls over safe temperature for food storage, a lack of training and supervision of staff and unacceptable food safety management.

News imageReading Borough Council A white box with an orange stripe at either end contains brown rodent bait pellets, which has spilt out across the concrete floor.Reading Borough Council
Issues included a tray containing spilt rodent bait and dirty walls and doors

At both premises, food was found to be left well outside safe temperature control, there was dirty and broken cooking equipment, and generally poor cleanliness.

Inspectors at the Wokingham Road restaurant found it had no hot water for 20 days.

The council says Hungry Budd Ltd was given multiple opportunities to make improvements, with support and guidance from the council's Food & Safety team.

It failed to continuously uphold improved hygiene standards, and the decision was made to take formal enforcement action.

News imageReading Borough Council A large blue, commercial rubbish bin, piled high and overflowing with large cardboard boxes, a black bin bag and a black plastic crate. It is outside, underneath a metal staircase, with a red brick wall on the left of the image and a black plastic down pipe.Reading Borough Council
The council said businesses have a legal duty to uphold the best hygiene standards

At Reading Magistrates' Court on 27 March 2026, Hungry Budd Ltd was fined £12,000.

The company was also ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £2,000 and prosecution costs of £5,317.50 to Reading Borough Council.

Matthew Golledge, public protection manager at Reading Borough Council, said: "When an operator repeatedly fails to put things right despite advice and support from our officers, we will not hesitate to take enforcement action.

"This successful prosecution brought by our diligent officers reflects the seriousness of the risks identified and reiterates our message to businesses across the borough that poor standards will not be tolerated."

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