WALTHAM Forest's environmental health officers are set to 'dish the dirt' in an ITV documentary.

'Dishing the Dirt', to be broadcast in October and November, follows the daily lives of council officers tasked with tackling health hazards.

Pip Broad, who is a senior officer in the council's environmental health department, was one of those filmed.

She said: “It's a four-week series and we're in the first week and the last week. The camera crew came with us on our routine visits to food premises.

“They filmed us closing a couple of places down – we hadn't planned it but it just so happened there were some with an imminent risk so we had to close them.”

Her job involves closing down some of the borough's filthiest restaurants and food premises, including a butcher's shop in Walthamstow where she found meat infested with maggots.

Mrs Broad said: “It was after a complaint from a member of the public. They had a really, really bad infestation of blue bottles.

“She'd bought some chicken and it was covered in maggots.”

She then went to visit the shop and found blue bottles, which had laid eggs in some of the meat, as well as rotting meat hanging up in a walk-in chiller.

“The whole place was filthy – it was absolutely disgusting,” Mrs Broad said.

As well as shutting down unsanitary food premises, her job also includes working with the PCT on controlling infectious diseases and enforcing 'smoke free' legislation.

She said: “I've been in the food and safety section for about seven years.

“I wasn't sure I was going to like working in food but I like the satisfaction of knowing we can make things better.”

Mrs Broad and colleague Phil Keighley will appear in 'Dishing the Dirt' on October 15 and again November 5.