Posted on Thursday 12th November 2020
The Himley Country Hotel, School Road, Himley, on the outskirts of Dudley has been ordered to close by Staffordshire County Council for coronavirus regulation breaches deemed to pose an imminent threat to public health.
The licenced hotel has been issued legal direction to close for 28 days, starting from midnight on Friday 13 November until midnight on Thursday 10 December 2020.
Previous visits to the hotel had shown numerous activities that posed a serious and imminent threat to public health.
The hotel had shown a lack of face coverings being worn by both guests and staff members. Cleanliness standards throughout the premises were very poor.
The hotel management displayed a disregard for public safety as insufficient controls were in place at the premises with a failure to implement a suitable and sufficient risk assessment to address the risks posed by Covid-19.
Dr Johnny McMahon, Staffordshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Health, Care and Wellbeing, said:
“We are at a critical stage in our battle to control the virus - everybody needs to play their part and follow the rules.
“We won’t hesitate to enforce firm and immediate action against any businesses which flout the rules and put lives in jeopardy.”
Cllr Rita Heseltine, Assistant Cabinet Member for Regulatory Services at South Staffordshire Council added:
“The vast majority of businesses are working really hard to create safe environments and follow all the rules and we are grateful for their efforts.
“We don’t want to do this: this is a last resort, but some places are just not getting the message to act safely and prevent further spread of the virus.
“If we do not take swift measures such as this, then we could end up in an even worse position.”