HE stored food in conditions posing a “significant risk” to public health, a judge said.

Paul Gillingham now faces a bill of more than £7,000 after admitting 30 food hygiene offences.

He was sentenced at Winchester Crown Court on Monday (February 20).

The 55-year-old stored catering supplies including meat and eggs at his home in Vernham Road, Weeke.

The court heard that he did so because the unit in Eastleigh from which he operated was destroyed by fire.

County Caterers at Brookwood Industrial Estate was gutted in November 2010, causing half-a-million pounds’ worth of damage.

A former employee, Julian White, 54, of Thurmond Crescent in Stanmore, was jailed for four years for arson earlier this month (February).

His former boss, Gillingham, moved the business to Weeke, which Winchester City Council then inspected.

It ordered him to stop using the property, having not legally registered it for food preparation.

Yet he kept flouting the ban, the court heard, and was taking deliveries when inspectors returned.

They found food stored in freezers under tarpaulins in the garden. Mayonnaise was also being stored in a Ford Transit, which should have been kept below 8C but was nearer 20C.

In mitigation, the court heard that Gillingham now had new premises in Eastleigh and was obeying hygiene rules.

His business was also not very profitable, often making less than £3,000 per year.

The Recorder of Winchester, Judge Keith Cutler, heard that Gillingham had £2,200 in the bank, and fined him that much.

He also ordered him to sell his car and the Ford Transit, together worth an estimated £3,250, and pay the proceeds.

He also imposed costs of £1,800 to be repaid by the end of 2013, and gave Gillingham a two year community order.

The judge said: “I accept that nobody was ill, but there was a significant risk that it could have happened.”

He added: “You ought to realise that it’s very, very important that you comply with these regulations.”