Illegal butcher in flat shut down

The authorities were alerted by the smell of smoking pork

An illegal butchery business operating from a flat in County Tyrone has been closed down by the local council.

Environmental health officers in Cookstown said they recovered large quantities of roughly butchered pork from illegally slaughtered pigs.

The authorities were alerted by the smell of smoking pork. About 86kg of pork was found at the flat in a residential area of Killymoon Road.

The council said processing and storage was happening in insanitary conditions.

Suspicions raised

Suspicions were also raised by the number of people coming and going at the flat in a former Housing Executive property.

Environmental health officers arrived to find an unlicenced butchery business.

Meat from an illegally slaughtered pig was found stored in a bedroom, with more discovered in a converted coal house.

Cookstown Council said that a warning had been issued to the people living in the flat.

With evidence the illegal butchery was continuing, the authorities moved to get a court order to close the unlicenced business.