A Leeds takeaway has been fined for food safety offences after a child found a cockroach in their pizza.

Environmental health officers were called to investigate Munchies on Harehills Road and immediately closed the premises after discovering appalling conditions.

When officers discovered a major cockroach infestation the owner, Mr Matloob Hussein, was fined £750 and ordered to pay £1250 in costs by Leeds Magistrates’ Court.

Justice of the Peace Bill Baker said: “What we have heard this morning has been a stomach-churning horror story. We are due to have lunch in three-quarters of an hour but I think we will skip it now.”

Among the debris officers found pans covered in and containing dead cockroaches. Other offences included dirty utensils, a build up of food on floors, walls and work surfaces as well as a layer of organic matter on the floor in the walk-in freezer.

Councillor Mark Dobson said: “It beggars belief that any business owner could knowingly allow conditions to get so bad. Munchies took the idea of a stuffed crust pizza to a whole new level”.

This is not Mr Hussein’s first encounter with food safety officials as his establishment was closed in August last year after scoring zero in the Food Hygiene Rating Scheme and in March 2013 was told major improvement was necessary.

Maddy Keating