AN INJUNCTION has been put in place to stop a Halal chicken factory wrongly using bread baskets and other equipment.

Bolton Halal Chicken Ltd has been ordered by Manchester County Court to stop using the equipment, belonging to the company Bakers Basco and its membership, for transporting its products.

The Moncrieffe Street factory was also ordered to pay £3,000 in costs.

If Bolton Halal Chicken, or its directors, Sajid Ebrahim Dalal and Yusuf Mohamed, disobey the order, they may be held in contempt of court and liable to a fine or imprisonment, in addition to having their assets seized.

The hearing followed a number of occasions in which the company was found to be using the equipment, which is designed for the sole purpose of transporting bread and other bakery products.

Bakers Basco and its membership's equipment is clearly marked as the company's property and usually when it becomes aware that its equipment is being used without permission, a simple request to return the items is enough.

Bolton Halal Chicken has previously made payments totalling nearly £3,000 to Bakers Basco.

Steve Millward, general manager at Bakers Basco, said: "Our baskets and dollies are designed for one sole purpose and that is to transport bread safely, cost-effectively and in an environmentally-friendly way.

"When people divert them for their own use, it not only has a knock-on effect on the bakers that pay to license them but also on retailers and, at the end of the day, Joe Public, all of whom end up footing the bill for the actions of a small minority.”

Bakers Basco was set up by five of the UK's leading plant bakers in 2006 to buy, manage and police the use of a standard basket for the delivery of bread to retailers and wholesalers.

It allows for the sharing of costs, a common design which optimises space in delivery vehicles and less waste from disposable packing ending up in landfill.

Around 25 bakers across the country pay a fee to use the equipment, including Bolton-based Warburtons.