Restaurant fined for tipple con

A Shropshire restaurant has been fined thousands of pounds after passing two cheap spirits off as the genuine brand.

See also: Review: Tin Tins, Donnington, Telford

Tin Tins Cantonese restaurant in Donnington, Telford, has been fined £4,000 after it was caught selling customers a cheaper version of Malibu and Smirnoff.

No one from the restaurant was available for comment.

The eaterie was reported to Telford & Wrekin Council's Trading Standards who took samples of Malibu and Smirnoff from the restaurant and sent them to be tested in a laboratory.

The results came back and proved both samples were not the genuine brands which restaurant bosses were selling to its customers.

At Telford Magistrates' Court on Monday the restaurant was fined and also ordered to pay £1,420 costs plus a £15 victim surcharge.

Company secretary Tit-Shing Lui, known to customers as Henry Lui, was fined £400 and also ordered to pay the £15 victim surcharge.

The company and Lui had both pleaded guilty to two charges each under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 and two charges under the Trade Marks Act 1994.

The discovery was made after a diner tasted the alcohol in the restaurant and believed it to be fake.

It was then reported to trading standards bosses.

The restaurant opened in 2001 and in April last year it was given a Scores on the Doors rating of just one star.

Inspectors said food hygiene and safety was poor and added there was some major non-compliance with statutory obligations.