ROTTING fish crawling with maggots, a dead rat and fish steaks three years out of date were found when environmental health officers raided the headquarters of Allan Rich Seafoods Ltd, a court heard.

A jury at Lincoln Crown Court heard open drains allowed rats and other vermin to run in and out of the factory.

The Brookenby company, which was targeted during a series of raids, was supplying restaurants and shops in London as well as exporting to Malta.

Jonathan Goulding, prosecuting, said the scene was described by one council official as the worst she had experienced in 11 years in the post.

On subsequent visits, a dead rat was found along with rat droppings.

There was also evidence cardboard packaging had been gnawed by rats.

Police were forced to go along with officials on some visits after company director Roland Saldanha allegedly threatened they would be tracked down and "sorted out" if they closed down his premises.

Staff from West Lindsey District Council and Lincolnshire County Council trading standards served hygiene improvement notices requiring the firm to clean up the building and carry out repairs.

But on a second inspection in August 2008 they found the required improvements had not been completed.

An emergency notice closing down the premises was served, but Mr Goulding said that within 24 hours, that was breached as 2,000kgs of salmon was moved out to a store in Grimsby. A further visit by health and trading standards officers on September 23 2008 revealed out of date and rotting fish food in a cold store, the jury was told.

Mr Goulding said: "There was an inspection of the small cold store. There was a huge quantity of fish and waste products stored in a chaotic fashion.

"There was a box of mouldy, smelly, soft fish steaks. There was a crate of fish products riddled with maggots."

West Lindsey environmental health officer Yvonne Garraway told the jury on the second visit Saldanha was "quite fractious" when she spoke to him about the improvements that were needed.

Ms Garraway said that Saldanha told her: "If you close me down my workers will come round and sort you out."

Allan Rich Seafoods Ltd denies eight breaches of food hygiene regulations and six breaches of animal by-products regulations.

Saldanha, 69 , formerly of Lancaster Road, Brookenby and now living in Gipsy Hill, South East London, denies seven breaches of food hygiene regulations and seven breaches of animal by-product regulations.

The trial continues.