A MAN has pleaded not guilty to 12 charges following a raid by food safety agencies in which two tonnes of chicken was seized from a Bradford meat plant.

Majid Zaman, 33, denies being the boss of the processing plant which was operating at Unit 2 at Iron Works Park, Bowling Back Lane.

Zaman, who runs Shariah Foods, a Halifax-based meat distributor, told the authorities he leased the Bowling Back Lane premises from a company called West Yorkshire Lamb Beef & Poultry Ltd.

The Bowling Back Lane site was raided by the Food Standards Agency, Bradford Council environmental health officers and Home Office Immigration Enforcement on September 3, 2013.

Zaman, who appeared at Bradford Crown Court yesterday for a plea and management hearing, has pleaded not guilty to a catalogue of charges concerning food hygiene and healthy and safety breaches.

These are operating a plant without approval, between August 1 and September 4, 2013.

Failing to ensure every person working in a food handling area wore suitable clean, protective clothing, failing to provide sufficient hand washing facilities and failing to provide sufficient facilities for washing food and equipment.

Other charges included failing to ensure that food premises are kept clean and well maintained and failing to ensure food equipment is effectively cleaned.

He is also charged with failing to make sure wrapping materials are not exposed to a risk of contamination and failing to protect food against contamination.

Failing to provide adequate changing facilities for personnel at the plant, and two charges of failure to establish traceability of food at all stages of production.

The final charge is failing to put in place, implement and maintain procedures based on the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) principles.

But, speaking at a Bradford and Keighley Magistrates' Court hearing on October 14 last year, Zaman, of Parkinson Lane, Halifax, maintained he had sub-leased the site to a Karmat Sajid before the time of the raid and had nothing to do with the way it was operating.

Zaman, who was wearing a tan coloured jacket, round neck navy blue top, light blue denim jeans and brown shoes at his ten-minute hearing, only spoke to confirm his name and give his pleas to each of the charges.

Zaman was granted unconditional bail by Judge David Hatton QC yesterday.

He will next appear at Bradford Crown Court for his trial, set to start on May 5 and is scheduled for five days.