Pensioner banned from fish and chip run over safety fears

A grandfather was banned from buying fish and chips for friends in his sheltered housing block, after wardens ruled that the food might pose a health and safety risk if it got cold.

George Pretty, 72, was ordered to stop his weekly lunch run for fellow residents at the sheltered housing complex, even though the drive back from the local fish shop only took him five minutes.

Managers at the council-run Lakenfields centre in Norwich decided to suspend the long-running Wednesday lunch club after attending a food hygiene course.


Photo from here.

They said that the lunches would not resume until they had could secure heat-proof boxes to protect the fish and chips during their short journey from shop to plate.

The decision disappointed pensioners at the centre who have been forced to go without their traditional British treat.

Mr Pretty, who sits on the centre's social committee and has been buying the fish and chips for months, accused staff of "going over the top" and said he had never received complaints about the temperature of the food.