A British homeless charity is being threatened with prosecution if it continues to serve hot food to homeless people. Hull City Council's environmental health officials have contacted Hull Homeless Outreach to say they are breaching food hygiene regulations by serving the food at St Mary's Church in Lowgate.
Without a working kitchen, the local authority insists there are concerns over the potential for food poisoning. Now, Hull Homeless Outreach can only serve tea, coffee and tinned soup, serving its last hot meal this week. Sarah Hemingway, of the charity, fears for the welfare of the city's homeless population. She said: "Environmental health called us out of the blue to tell us we couldn't serve hot food anymore because we don't meet the criteria. They told us they would prosecute if we carried on.
"We have been providing curries and sausage casseroles, which are cooked by our volunteers at home. "Now we are not even allowed to provide sandwiches made by volunteers. This has left us deeply frustrated, as about 50 people come to our soup kitchen on each of the two nights we are here. For some, this is the only chance of a hot meal they get each week. How can us serving this food be any worse than them having to rummage around bins for something to eat? This is a lifeline for our homeless population."