A BUTCHER’S shop found to be selling meat under the labelled weight has been ordered to pay out almost £7,000.

An investigation by Durham County Council (DCC) was launched in July last year when the authority’s trading standards team received a complaint from a member of the public about Meat and Two Veg Wholesale Limited – trading as The Fat Butcher, in St Helen Auckland.

The report was of meat bought from the business which was underweight and as a result, test purchases were carried out on July 12, with three packets of chicken fillets identified as underweight.

The next day, three packets of ribeye steaks labelled as weighing 400g were randomly picked at the premises and were significantly underweight, including one packet weighing just 212g.

A formal inspection was carried out five days later when 133 out of 341 products selected were found to be deficient in weight.

The sole director of the company, Daniel Miller, was interviewed under caution and denied that products were packed by number rather than weight.

He later claimed that procedures provided to staff were out of date and no longer used.

Mr Miller admitted no training had been provided to staff on how to weigh and pack goods or that they should be checked.

The store’s butcher was also interviewed under caution and admitted weighing incorrectly, believing products could be up to 10g underweight.

She also said she was acting under instruction of her manager and did not think she was doing anything wrong.

According to DCC, in its defence, the company claimed it had not deliberately defrauded or ripped off members of the public and that it was negligent or reckless at worst.

It also added the loss to each customer was minimal and that since the investigation it has changed its approach, including introducing a check sheet to be completed daily by staff and conducting checks on random products.

Magistrates in Peterlee on Wednesday found there was no evidence the company had taken all reasonable precaution or exercised due diligence to avoid committing the offence, and there was inadequate supervision of the butcher in her role.

The company was found guilty of all five charges under the Weights and Measures Act 1985 and was fined £1,150 and ordered to pay a £100 victim surcharge and costs of £5,589.68.

Joanne Waller, head of environment, health and consumer protection, said: “Members of the public are entitled to get what they pay for and we will investigate those who we believe to be misleading customers with incorrect information on their packaging. This significant fine should act as a reminder that businesses must have robust procedures in place to ensure they don’t commit a similar offence.”