Meat was cut up in a “filthy” garage littered with oil and dog waste, a court heard.

Now, the owner of the business – who runs a car wash on the same site - has been banned from running a food business from his garage.

On Tuesday, District Judge Joanna Dickens signed a hygiene emergency prohibition order banning Gent Jakupi from running a food business out of the premises on New Park Street, Devizes.

And today, magistrates rubber-stamped another order allowing Wiltshire Council to destroy the 2.7 tonnes of beef and lamb officers seized in raids last Friday.

Chairman of the bench Helen Toomer ordered that Jakupi pay £4,024.50 costs to the council – the amount it had cost officers to prepare the paperwork and fees incurred in destroying the meat.

The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald:

Gent Jakupi outside Swindon Magistrates' Court on Tuesday Picture: ADVER PHOTOGRAPHER

Jakupi, a British Army reservist who appeared in court dressed in his Rifles regiment uniform, had earlier acknowledged his premises was unfit for the preparation of food and, after taking legal advice, acceded to the council’s request for the meat to be forfeit and destroyed.

Health inspectors from Wiltshire Council and officers from Wiltshire Police raided the car wash last Friday.

A garage workshop was being used as a meat cutting plant, the council said. Health inspectors found lamb and beef in two Transit vans together with cuts of meat on metal sheeting on the floor. Knives and a bandsaw had flecks of fresh meat on them.

The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald:

One of the cuts of meat at the garage Picture: WILTSHIRE COUNCIL

The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald:

Cuts of meat inside the garage Picture: WILTSHIRE COUNCIL

In a summary of the council’s case, senior environmental health officer Sarah Grubb said: “The structural condition of the premise did not comply with the food hygiene regulations.

“The garage was filthy; there was oil and other liquids on the floor of the garage, meat debris on the forecourt, dog faeces on the floor of the garage and adjacent office.

“Food handlers were not wearing protective clothing such as apron or gloves and were not able to wash their hands as there were no hand washing facilities.”

The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald:

Meat was placed on metal sheeting on the floor, the council said Picture: WILTSHIRE COUNCIL

On Tuesday, 39-year-old Jakupi told District Judge Dickens that he had set up the meat business this year: “Basically, I started running this meat business since the coronavirus started because I was left exposed. In the army I’m only a reservist so I don’t get paid very much.”

He said people had only bought large pieces of meat from him and the food had generally not been cut up on the premises.

Jakupi told the judge he hoped to expand the business, but acknowledged it had to be done properly. “This business is going up and I’ve got people ordering and I want to make it professional. I want to change the whole interior and apply for [the relevant licences].”

District Judge Dickens told the Devizes man: “It looks very bad, when you look at this, and it looks very unhygienic...you can understand where the council is coming from.”

The judge adjourned the case on Tuesday after Jakupi indicted he may want to challenge the council’s application that all the meat seized – including cuts found in the two Transit vans – was destroyed.

However, on Wednesday he told magistrates he no longer wanted to challenge the application.