Rat droppings found near food in restaurant

Rat droppings were found next to drinks, a pizza oven and inside food packaging at an infested seafood restaurant, the BBC can reveal.

Inspectors also discovered smeared rodent faeces along the inner wall of a marquee at Fish on the Quay in Maldon, Essex.

New details emerged after Maldon District Council secured a court order to shut the venue down on Thursday.

The restaurant did not respond when approached for comment, but a manager previously vowed to reopen.

It was inspected on 13 June after a customer tipped the local authority off about food safety and hygiene concerns.

A member of staff "quickly dashed to the kitchen" after spotting two inspectors arrive, documents obtained by the BBC showed.

It was believed rats were nesting in sheds used for product storage and entering the kitchen via a gap in the door.

"Both showed signs of considerable rat activity with numerous droppings noted throughout and damage to food packaging," the report said, referring to the sheds.

Inside the kitchen, inspectors found a "considerable" number of droppings by a washing up area that stored clean equipment and utensils.

More were found next to condiments, on top of a jar of honey and on a shelf below a pizza oven, as well as in storage space for drinks and glasses.

"On top of the fridge was a plastic mesh storage tray with dry foods present," one inspector noted.

"As I lifted the tray, fresh rat droppings were falling out and when I removed the tray, rat droppings were present all over the top of the fridge.

"In the mesh storage tray I could see a rat dropping inside food packaging."

They said it presented an imminent risk to health, branding the state of the kitchen "extremely dangerous and completely unacceptable".

The presence of rats at hospitality venues is treated as a health risk due to diseases they can pass to humans.

Pathogenic bacteria including salmonella, E. coli and leptospira - which can cause Weil's disease - can be carried by the rodents, which frequently defecate and urinate.

Fish on the Quay is also home to a pub and a bed and breakfast, both of which are affected by the closure order.

A council spokesman said: "We continue to work with the business to support their reopening when the issues have been satisfactorily addressed."

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