A restaurant was shut down after an Environmental Health inspector found mouse droppings by its oven, gas hobs and fridge.
An emergency prohibition notice was immediately issued by the concerned officer after the inspection at Kebabish Original in Uppingham Road, Leicester.
Grim pictures of inside the restaurant have emerged which show droppings on prep tables and ledges, grease dripping onto plug sockets and food containers caked in dirt.
Magistrates heard yesterday morning the business was safe to re-open after inspectors returned to the premises and gave it a further examination, Leicestershire Live reports .
John Moss, of Leicester City Council, urged the court to uphold the original notice against the restaurant.
He said: “The officer attended on Tuesday to carry out a routine inspection.
“Mouse activity and mouse droppings were found in various places – by the fridge, the rotisserie oven and found on the gas hobs.
“You will be aware of the problems mice actually cause. They are little animals that can jump quite high.
“They carry and spread many human pathogens.
“They urinate and defecate indiscriminately.”
Anjam Khan, director of Global Grill Foods Ltd, which runs Kababish Original, told the court that the issue with mice at the restaurant is a new one and that it is restaurant is now open for business again.
He said: “I have been there three years and we have never had an issue before.
“We never had mice until recently but there has been a lot of fly-tipping on the corner.
“The council hasn’t done anything about that.
“That causes unwanted pests.
“Someone else is going to take over the business.
“We are now open. I have shown I am pro-active if things go wrong.”
Mr Moss said the floor in the kitchen was also greasy and slippy.
He said: “The notice was served.
“He (Mr Khan) was told ‘we will work with you but you cannot operate on this basis'.”
Magistrates said they were persuaded the notice had been correctly served and there was a risk of injury to public health when the restaurant was closed down.
The magistrates ordered Mr Khan to pay the council’s £1,187.50 costs.
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