41.—(1) F48[A registration officer] shall be entitled at all reasonable times (subject to the production by him if so required of his appointment in writing as F48[registration officer]) to enter and inspect any registered premises or any premises in respect of which an application for registration has been made, and to require the registered proprietor or the applicant for registration (as the case may be) or any person employed in such premises to furnish to such F48[registration officer] such information in relation to such premises as may be reasonably necessary for the purposes of the administration of this Act.

(2) Every person who—

(a) obstructs or impedes F48[a registration officer] in the exercise of any of the powers conferred by this section, or

(b) fails or refuses to give to F48[a registration officer] on demand any information which F48[such registration officer] is entitled to demand under this section, or

(c) wilfully gives to F48[a registration officer] information which is false or misleading in a material particular,

shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to F49[a fine not exceeding £50.]

F50[(3) In this section ‘registration officer’ means—

(a) an officer of the Board appointed in writing by the Board, or

(b) an employee of a contractor appointed in writing by the contractor,

to be a registration officer for the purposes of this section.

(4) A registration officer who is an employee of a contractor shall cease to be a registration officer upon the termination of any contract made between the Board and the contractor who employs the employee.

(5) The Board may, where it considers a registration officer who is an employee of a contractor is not performing the functions of a registration officer in a satisfactory manner, revoke the appointment of the officer.]