The owner of a Great Yarmouth takeaway restaurant failed to turn up at the town's magistrates' court yesterday to answer charges that her kitchen was in a filthy state and that staff did not wash their hands before cooking.

The owner of a Great Yarmouth takeaway restaurant failed to turn up at the town's magistrates' court yesterday to answer charges that her kitchen was in a filthy state and that staff did not wash their hands before cooking.

Ying Lu Pan, of the Mr Chips fish and chips and Chinese takeaway in Nelson Road North, is alleged to have breached food hygiene regulations 10 times.

The charges follow a routine inspection by Yarmouth Borough Council environmental health officers at Mr Chips, also known as Aroma, on October 9 last year.

The 10 charges against Pan, whose address was given as Mr Chips, include allegations that the premises were in a filthy unhygienic condition throughout leading to a risk of food being contaminated by dirt.

It is claimed the inspection found dirty fridges, freezers, woks, pots and pans and food storage containers and that rice was stored at room temperature which posed a health risk.

Yarmouth Borough Council's prosecution also claims that a “chef was witnessed starting to cook food without putting any protective clothing or washing his hands after returning from outside where he had smoked a cigarette”.

It is also alleged that Pan could not provide evidence that staff were trained in food safety regulations and that two chickens were unfit to eat as it could not be proved where they came from.

Magistrates adjourned her case until April 24.