A routine inspection of a Chinese restaurant on Yarmouth seafront exposed a catalogue of kitchen horrors from grime and grease-encrusted floors and walls to filthy woks and cooking equipment, magistrates heard yesterday.

A routine inspection of a Chinese restaurant on Yarmouth seafront exposed a catalogue of kitchen horrors from grime and grease-encrusted floors and walls to filthy woks and cooking equipment, magistrates heard yesterday.

And a roof at the back of the food preparation area in the Seabreeze restaurant in Marine Parade was leaky, allowing dirty rainwater and bird droppings to wash in, the Yarmouth court was told.

Restaurant manager Alan Ting Zhang, 37, of Osborne Avenue, Yarmouth, admitted seven charges under food hygiene regulations and was fined a total of £505.

Chairman of the bench Mike Ross also imposed an order banning Zhang from ever managing food premises again, telling him: “You caused a serious risk of harm to the public and failed to observe even basic hygiene.”

Isha Prince, prosecuting for the borough council, said members of its environmental health team visited the Seabreeze restaurant in June as part of its regime of regular inspections of food premises.

The first problem they encountered at the premises - which had previously been issued with four hygiene improvement notices - was that the manager had no proper food and temperature control records.

They continued their inspection and found the entire kitchen in an appalling state, having evidently not been cleaned for some time.

The floors, walls and ceilings were filthy with grease, a wash basin was dirty with a soiled cloth in it, and the wok and cooker were grimy. An ashtray full of cigarette ends was evidence of people smoking in the food preparation area.

The decorative state was also unsatisfactory with flaking paint and damaged floor tiles.

Several quantities of high risk food were found left out, not under temperature control and exposed to contamination, she added.

Because of the serious health risk Zhang was asked to close the restaurant which he agreed to.

Ross Burrows, mitigating, said fortunately no one had suffered any ill health in any way.

He said Zhang, who was married and had a young child, felt “disappointed and let down” by his landlord as the restaurant building and equipment had been in such a state when he took it over it could not be cleaned satisfactorily.

However, he had felt under pressure to take on the tenancy because he had come over from China on a work permit and was finding it difficult to get a job.

He said Zhang was a Christian who had received considerable support from Yarmouth rector Canon Michael Woods and was undertaking voluntary work through the church.