The former operator of a north Canberra takeaway pizza restaurant has been fined more than $7000 after three customers found cockroaches in their meals.

Whono’s Pty Ltd, a company formerly trading as Domino’s Pizza in Dickson, was yesterday convicted of four breaches of the territory’s food safety laws.

The Canberra Times reports the store was shut down for two days in May last year after health authorities discovered a cockroach infestation and shoddy cleaning practices at the store.

The investigation came after three customers independently complained of finding cockroaches in their food.

Sole director and shareholder Alex Michael Duncan, who appeared in the ACT Magistrates Court yesterday, sold the lease on the business in November last year partly due to the fall-out from the cockroach infestation.