Indian restaurant ordered to shut after cockroach spotted crawling up manager’s tie – The Sun
Carter Sullivan
Published Mar 22, 2026
AN Indian restaurant was ordered to shut after health inspectors spotted a cockroach crawling up the manager’s tie.
The experts, who found a “bagful” of the critters elsewhere in the eaterie, told the bosses to fumigate before opening again.
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But three days later, on February 6, they returned to find the Tandoor Mahal — which opened in Maidstone, Kent, in 1974 — packed with diners, Medway JPs were told.
They granted Maidstone Council a hygiene emergency prohibition notice.
Manager Shalim Karim, 50, and brother Shilper, 53, the owner, were told to pay £1,300 in court costs.
The restaurant will not be allowed to re-open until health officers deem it safe.
The brothers have promised to spend £20,000 to rid it of bugs.
Shalim, 50, said: "The amount of money we are losing is unbearable.
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“In all these years nobody has complained of food poisoning.
"OK, the inspector found a couple of roaches, but we are doing everything they’re asking.
"We’ll be more careful and make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
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