A FAST-food restaurant has been criticised after waste was dumped down a grate outside one of its stores in Bradford.

However, the restaurant has hit back at claims the waste was used oil and grease, saying it was actually “dirty water”, a claim which has been backed up by Bradford Council.

A member of staff at the KFC fried chicken restaurant in Harrogate Road, Greengates, was spotted by a member of the public pouring waste down a grate outside the store on Saturday morning.

The incident was reported to Bradford Council’s environmental health team, and Yorkshire Water has also investigated it.

The brown, gloopy waste could be seen splattered around the entry to the grate, and also seemed to be floating on top of the water below.

Councillor Jeanette Sunderland (Lib Dem, Idle & Thackley) said claims it was just waste water are “nonsense”.

She said: “Whatever it is they are a business, and businesses have to take responsibility of their waste.

“It has to go down the proper systems not down a drain in the street. If it is going down there it is just ending up in our river.

“The Environmental Health team went down three days later and said three days earlier it was just waste water. It’s nonsense.

“The question is why are they tipping anything in the drains? Drains are for rainwater and that’s it.”

A spokesperson for Yorkshire Water said it is working with the restaurant to ensure waste is disposed of correctly.

He said: “Disposing of waste water and grease by pouring it directly down the drain is not what want to see happen.

“We are working closely with the KFC in question to make sure they meet our expected standards in terms of effectively disposing of waste water.

“This involves making sure grease traps are used at all times as they act as a physical barrier between sinks and sewers, which stop solid grease from entering the sewer system.

“This helps reduce the risk of sewers blocking up with balls of grease and fat often known as ‘fatbergs’.

“We also ask that food containers should be dry wiped with kitchen roll to remove any grease before they are washed in the sink.”

A spokesperson for KFC said there had been a mix-up surrounding what had happened on Saturday.

He said: “Looks like there’s been a bit of confusion here - the team member was actually throwing dirty water down the drain and not oil.

“We don’t dispose of oil like this and have since been in touch with Yorkshire Water, who confirmed that no oil is present in our drains and are happy with the oil waste management at the restaurant.”

A spokesperson for Bradford Council added: “The matter was investigated on Tuesday by an Environmental Enforcement Officer.

“The company confirmed that they have disposed of some waste water down the drain.

“Audit checks were carried out and the company was found to be fully compliant with all legal requirements regarding disposal of their waste.”

On KFC’s corporate social responsibility website, it says: “All our waste cooking oil is turned into biodiesel – each year, KFC restaurants around the UK recycle around 7.75 million litres of low-trans-fat vegetable oil into biodiesel.”

At its most recent inspection by the Food Standards Agency on October 5, 2017, the restaurant was awarded a score of four for good food hygiene.

The restaurants hygienic food handling was found to be ‘very good’, which covers preparation, cooking, reheating and storage, while its management of food safety was found to be ‘good’.

However, the cleanliness and condition of facilities and the building only received a ‘generally satisfactory’ rating.