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CHAPTER IV.
ENVIRONMENTAL HYGIENE, FOOD AND WATER,
HOUSING, FACTORIES, ETC.
1. HAWKERS AND STREET TRADING. When major
events occur at the Stadium a substantial number of hawkers and
street traders invariably attempt to pursue their calling in the neighbourhood
of the Stadium, and for many years the Department has
endeavoured to exercise control over those concerned with the vending
of foodstuffs.
With this object, special visits were paid to the neighbourhood
of the Stadium when eight important events took place, and inspections
made of eighty-seven vehicles or stalls. Twenty-six making a
first appearance were "warned off" for failure to register under the
Middlesex County Council Act, 1950, or lapses in hygiene, and did
not return during the season. Unregistered traders who returned
after warnings, and persistent offenders against the Food Hygiene
(General) Regulations, 1960, six in number, were prosecuted and
fined a total of £140 10s .0d. with £26 5s. Od. costs, in one case
it being necessary for the police to apprehend the defendant in order
to ensure his appearance. An interesting commentary on the effect
of the penalities imposed by the courts was the re-appearance, on one
occasion only, of a gentleman who had declared his intention, only the
previous year, of retiring from the street-trading business following a
sixth conviction at a cost to him of some £86 0s. 0d. This time no
fault was found in the hygiene of his van, and he was charged only
with failing to register.
Of course, hawkers are not found only in the neighbourhood of
the Stadium. Several have established stores and routes in the Borough,
are duly registered and conduct their businesses perfectly satisfactorily.
During the year, however, two applications for new registration were
refused on the grounds that the storage accommodation in each
instance fell short of hygienic requirements.
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