A meat and cheese trader at Whitecross Street Market could be stripped of his licence for storing stock above the legal temperature limit – in a pub basement.

Matteo Borea is being hauled before councillors on Tuesday over the ongoing issues, which have seen him slapped with a Food Standards Agency rating of 1 – the second worst. Food should be kept below 8C.

Council officers say he has only been at the stall himself four times since last summer, and after initially suspending his licence, they have now called for it to be reviewed.

One food safety officer told him: “Food stored in your thermal box on the stall gave a temperature reading of 11.4C. Overnight, the food is kept in the Two Brewers pub basement cold room. This gave an air temperature of 11.3C. You cannot store your food there.”

Other issues include staff not having hygiene training, poor hand washing facilities and a lack of allergy information on food.