Six sheep heads found illegally on sale in a supermarket in Edmonton, northern London, have been seized after Enfield Council discovered them during a routine inspection.

The grisly-looking skulls, which were believed to be more than four years old, were found with their teeth still attached last night by its Food Safety Team and immediately removed from sale.

The heads have the potential to carry scrapie and the supermarket had no documentation as to where and when they were bought, which the council called ‘incredibly concerning’.

It said the matter was ‘now subject to further investigation’, with Cabinet Member for Environment, Cllr Chris Bond, adding: “There are very good reasons why we have strict controls in place regarding food safety associated with meat and its incredibly irresponsible of this trader to flout these regulations.

“We take this sort of behaviour incredibly seriously and take a very dim view of people who simply cannot be bothered to take the proper legal precautions to protect the public from exposure to a potentially fatal disease.

“The business in question had no records of when and where they purchased these heads, which is incredibly concerning because anyone buying and ultimately eating them, doesn’t have the faintest idea of what they are eating.

“It is a legal requirement for all businesses to ensure they have documentation for all food they are supplied with and that reputable suppliers are used.”