Restaurateurs lose fight with council over pink burger ban

Portsmouth restaurateurs who took on the local council over serving pink burgers have lost their battle and could now face a £135,000 legal bill.

Portsmouth City Council issued 6 Oz Burgers in Southsea with a hygiene emergency prohibition order in August 2015, arguing that serving undercooked burgers represented a risk to public safety thanks to "the bacterial loading of the mince".

Directors James Baldry and Piotr Mientkiewicz fought the ban and sought to prove their burgers posed no health risk.

In August Baldry told The Caterer: "We have always stood by the quality of our burgers and our safety procedures. As a consequence, we are having to undergo a long and costly legal battle with the council to prove them wrong."

But after a four-day civil court case a judge has ruled that the council was doing its duty to stop the sale of rare burgers.

The council is now asking for 6 Oz Burgers to pay £35,000 costs, on top of their £100,000 legal fees.

According to Portsmouth News the restaurant’s representative Edward Strickland said the request for additional payment was "ludicrous".

He added: “It’s ludicrous to award costs in tens of thousands of pounds for a notice being applied to their premises for the cooking of a type of burger for no more than eight days.

“They changed their procedures immediately and have been dragged back to court.”

A decision on costs will be made by district judge Anthony Callaway within seven days.
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6Â Oz Burgers fights ‘pink burger' ban >>

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