A SCUNTHORPE fish and chip shop has been closed by environmental health officers, after finding it was infested with rats.


Wilsons fish and chip shop in Frodingham Road will remain closed
until further notice, after the council's decision was "ratified" by
North Lincolnshire magistrates.



[list=1]

​

Wilsons fish and chip shop in Frodingham Road, Scunthorpe, has been closed down


[/*][/list]

Environmental Health Officer Peter Nichols said he
received a request to visit the premises from a colleague at about
12.30pm that day.
"He had found a live rat infestation. I gathered some documents
and sample bags and went to Wilsons fish and chip shop," he said.
Mr Nichols said he was given a copy of a pest control document, which stated the premises had been inspected on April 8 and 9.


"In both cases there was evidence rats were found and that there
was an entrance point, which was an open drain at the rear of the
premises," he said.
Mr Nichols then went inside the building. "I found evidence of rat droppings," he told the court.


He said droppings were found in the potato store and the pizza preparation room.


Mr Nichols said there was "a big black splodge" on the floor in one of the rooms. This, he said, was rat droppings.


He then attempted to inspect an upstairs room at the shop. "I
couldn't even get into the room because there was so much clutter," he
said.
Mr Nichols told magistrates the food at the shop would have been
contaminated by rat urine. And, he pointed out: "They would have crawled
onto surfaces."
Following the inspection the owner Manga Singh Bogard was served with a notice ordering him to close the premises.


Mr Bogard did not oppose the application.


He said work was already being carried out to solve the problem
and, when this was completed, he would apply to North Lincolnshire
Council to reopen for trade.
For the full story, buy today's Scunthorpe Telegraph.