Filthy kitchen equipment has cost hotelier Nigel Stanley more than £40,000 after the district council's food and safety team took him to court.

The Wyndham Arms Hotel in Clearwell was ordered to pay fines and costs amounting to £36,376 plus a victim surcharge of £15 at a hearing last week at Cheltenham Magistrates' Court.

Nigel Stanley, the company secretary, was ordered to pay fines and costs amounting to £7,250 plus a victim surcharge of £15.

Wyndham Arms Hotel had at an earlier hearing pleaded guilty to 16 offences and Mr Stanley to seven. They related to a lack of cleaning affecting all parts of the premises used for food preparation, failure to clean and maintain food equipment, and the business did not have an adequate food safety management system in place to ensure food was prepared safely.

In sentencing Nigel Stanley and the company, magistrates said: "The fines reflected the gravity of the offences, there had been a failure to respond to warnings over a prolonged period of time."

They added there had been systematic failures regarding food hygiene.