Section 8 Fixed penalty notices

(1)

An authorised person may issue a fixed penalty notice to any person who the authorised person has reason to believe has committed an offence under section 7 or contrary to byelaws made under section 60 of the Food Act 1984.

(2)

A fixed penalty notice is a notice offering the person to whom it is issued the opportunity of discharging any liability to be convicted of the offence to which the notice relates by payment of a fixed penalty to the Council.

(3)

A fixed penalty notice must be in writing and state―

(a)

the particulars of the circumstances alleged to constitute the offence to which the notice relates;

(b)

the amount of the fixed penalty;

(c)

the effect of subsection (6);

(d)

the name and address of the person to whom payment of the fixed penalty may be sent; and

(e)

the permissible methods of payment.

(4)

A fixed penalty notice may be issued in person or by post and must identify by name the person to whom it is issued, unless the authorised person cannot reasonably ascertain the person’s name.

(5)

Where a fixed penalty notice is issued by post, it is deemed to have been issued to the person to whom it relates on the second business day after it was posted.

(6)

Where a person is issued with a fixed penalty notice―

(a)

no proceedings may be taken in respect of the alleged offence in relation to which the notice was issued before the end of the period of 14 days, beginning with the date on which the notice was issued; and

(b)

the person may not be convicted of that offence if the fixed penalty is paid before the end of that period.

(7)

The amount specified under subsection (3)(b) is to be an amount prescribed by the Council, which―

(a)

may prescribe different amounts in relation to different classes of cases, but

(b)

may not prescribe an amount exceeding level 1 on the standard scale.

(8)

In any proceedings, a certificate that―

(a)

purports to be signed by or on behalf of the officer responsible for the Council’s financial affairs; and

(b)

states that payment of a fixed penalty was or was not received by the date specified in the certificate;

is evidence of the facts stated.