A "rogue employee" has been blamed after The Ship And Castle Hotel in St Mawes was caught watering down vodka and fined £3,675.

Following an investigation by Cornwall Council’s Public Protection and Business Support Service, Shearings Hotels Ltd pleaded guilty at Bodmin Magistrates Court on January 9, 2015, to falsely describing a substance as Smirnoff Vodka when in fact it had been watered down to such an extent that it no longer could be legally described as ‘vodka’.

In December 2013, a routine inspection of The Ship and Castle Hotel in St Mawes, owned and operated by Shearings Hotels Ltd, was conducted by a trading standards officer.

During this inspection a bottle of Smirnoff Vodka Red Label was discovered behind the bar. On subsequent analysis a substantially lower alcohol-by-volume (ABV) content was found than the legally prescribed minimum of 37.5%. The actual ABV content of the substance was 28.95%.

The defence stressed that this this was the first time that the company had faced legal proceedings for any such offence and that this was an action of a rogue employee, who has since left the company. Systems have since been put in place including random and mandatory screen testing of spirits to avoid a re-occurrence of the offence.

The Court took into account the company’s early guilty plea, their co-operation with Cornwall Council and the implementation of improved systems, ordering them to pay a fine £3675.23 and costs of £1,925 making a total of £5600.23.

Allan Hampshire, head of Cornwall Council’s public protection and business support service said: “The Council has responsibilities in promoting businesses growth in Cornwall but also a strong commitment and responsibility to ensuring that consumers within Cornwall can have confidence in the authenticity and safety of their purchases.

"Inspections carried out by the service allow us to fulfil these commitments and occasionally as here, will require us to institute legal proceedings. We hope the outcome of this case will reassure consumers within Cornwall and that we consider the truthful description of food products to be a priority area of work in protecting the public.”