A supermarket in Bradford may receive fines of up to £50,000 for breaking Sunday trading laws, magistrates have warned.

Environmental health officers from Bradford Council found Pride Asia in Ingleby Road trading outside the hours allowed by law when they visited in December 2008 following complaints from other businesses, yesterday’s hearing heard.

The store had also failed to display notices showing its permitted opening hours, an offence which carries a fine of up to £500. Hargit Ryatt, prosecuting on behalf of Bradford Council, said stores with a floor area of 280 square metres or more were allowed to open for a continuous six hour period between 10am and 6pm on Sundays.

The two Council officers, who visited Pride Asia at around 7pm, found the store open, with customers inside and were able to buy a carton of orange juice, he told the court.

The officers revisited the store several days later and found it to measure 394 square metres. They discounted a delicatessen and cafeteria area inside the store as they were not included within the Sunday trading rules, Mr Ryatt said.

Nigel Coates, one of the officers who visited the store, told the court: “The reason for the visit was because we had received complaints from other traders who were abiding by the Sunday trading restrictions.”

Mr Coates said he had written to the directors of ISW Ltd, which trades as Pride Asia, before his visit, to explain the trading restrictions and warn them they were being monitored by the Council.

Environmental health officer David Kean, who also visited the store, told the court: “I didn’t notice any signs outside the shop and then when we went in, I didn’t notice any signs displaying opening times. No-one tried to stop myself or Nigel from entering the premises.

“When we got inside there were probably almost 30 to 50 customers inside. The tills were operating and from memory there were probably about three or four customers at each of the tills.”

Attempts to interview representatives from the company had failed four times, the court was told.

Abraham Quandah, one of its directors, had twice become verbally aggressive towards officers and had not attended two further interviews, magistrates heard.

No-one was in court to represent ISW Ltd.

Chairman of the Bench, Paul Smith, who adjourned the case until March 15, told the court he was satisfied the supermarket was large enough to fall within the Sunday trading restrictions and both charges had been proved.

He said fines of up to £50,000 were available and added: “We are going to adjourn the case until the directors can come and give their defence.”