Two Penge butchers have been prosecuted for trying to pass off mutton as goat meat.

It was less a case of mutton dressed as lamb as mutton dressed as goat when food safety officers from the council uncovered two butchers selling wrongly labelled meat. 

Mr Meat, along the High Street, was caught out when food safety officers from Bromley Council ran a food sampling programme testing goat meat across the borough.

All the illegal meat was uncovered in May last year.

Zia Mohammed, Samiullah Shahabzai and Faridoon Shahabzai from Mr Meat pleaded guilty at Bromley Magistrates’ Court. 

They were fined a total of £1,900, with £150 victim surcharge and £4,500 in costs between them last month.

MORE TOP STORIES The first two men initially refused to give information about the business or themselves and were additionally charged with obstruction offences.

Haji and Sons butchers, also along the High Street, were charged with selling sheep mutton meat as goat meat which was also uncovered during the sampling by food safety officers.

The operator, Kasim Aslambased, pleaded guilty at Bromley Magistrates’ and was fined £375 plus £38 victim surcharge and ordered to pay £1,958 in costs.

It is illegal to use terms such as curry meat, curry mutton or curry goat, and the term mutton is illegal to be used to describe goat meat.

Members of the public are advised to check with their butcher about the meat they are buying, particularly with goat meat.

Coun Kate Lymer, member for public protection and safety, said: “It is only right and proper that customers should be absolutely clear about what they are buying and not be duped by false labelling.”