A meat wholesaler has been ordered to pay more than £25,500, after being found guilty of failing to prevent waste escaping from its premises.

Premium Halal Meat & Poultry Limited, based at Unit W5, The Saturn Centre was prosecuted by Birmingham City Council for an offence under the Environmental Protection Act 1990.

As no one from the company attended court, it was fined £24,000 and ordered to pay £1,541 towards court costs plus a £120 victim surcharge. The business pleaded not guilty on 26 May 2016.

Environmental health officers visited the site on four occasions between 31 March 2015 and 19 June 2015, following complaints about controlled waste – including boxes, invoices and plastic packaging – had been found outside the premises and strewn along Bissell Street.

Cllr Barbara Dring, Chair of the Licensing and Public Protection Committee, said: “There is no excuse for businesses to let their rubbish pollute public streets or land, they must have arrangements in place for their trade waste to be collected and disposed of properly.

“Food packaging, especially from meat and poultry products, should be disposed of responsibly as it may carry bacteria such as campylobacter, which can be found on raw chicken and can cause food poisoning.

“We need to respect our neighbourhoods, so it is disappointing to see rubbish being strewn along our streets. Everybody has a responsibility to keep our city’s streets clean.”