THE owners of a takeaway so "extremely dirty" it was handed a zero food hygiene rating have been ordered to pay more than £1,800 in fines and costs.

Yue Chi Rong and Xing Chan Cui each admitted four charges arising from food safety violations at their Wing On takeaway in Victoria Road, Darlington.

Darlington Borough Council asked magistrates to consider closing it down but the pair were given one last chance to clean up their act.

Yvonne Wood, on behalf of the council, said it was given the worst food hygiene rating possible following an inspection on September 15 last year.

The Northern Echo: Wing On takeaways, on Darlington's Victoria Road, has been allowed to remain open provided it keeps clean

Of more than 800 shops selling food in the borough, Wing On was one of only two to receive a zero rating, the court was told.

“The premises and equipment were extremely dirty and there was no food safety system in place," she added.

Rong, aged 41, and Cui, 33, immediately cleaned the takeaway and it was allowed to reopen next day, but a follow-up visit in October found hygiene standards had again lapsed.

“At a follow up visit it was found that the premises was still dirty and the management programme had not been completed.”

Stephen Andrews, mitigating, told Darlington Magistrates' Court that Rong and Cui have since cleaned up the premises, which they rely upon to support their three young children and elderly parents.

“They know nothing else," he added. "They have had a real scare and have learnt their lesson. They assure me their premises will be clean from here on in. They will not be in this position again.”

He said that the takeaway became dirty after financial troubles forced them to lay off the member of staff responsible for cleaning while Rong was plagued with back issues and had struggled to carry out the work himself.

Chair of the bench, Anita Atkinson, said Wing On could continue trading provided it maintained food hygiene standards.

She said: “We feel that you have done your best to put these issues right. But we will warn you that this is the only time this will happen.”

Rong and Cui were each fined £500 and ordered to split court costs of £812.50.