Rat droppings found in kitchen, court told

Rat droppings were found in the kitchen and public areas of a fast food restaurant in Smethwick, a court heard.

Soft Bite in Bearwood Road was closed down after the grim discovery was made by environmental health officers.

Officers issued an emergency notice to close the restaurant, after deciding there was an imminent health risk. The alleged manager at the time, Saed Ali, aged 34, of Broadway Avenue in Bordesley Green, Birmingham, denies four charges claiming he was not the person in charge.

At his trial at Wolverhampton Crown Court yesterday, Jonathan Challinor, prosecuting, said when environmental health officer Erika Phillips carried out a routine inspection at the fast food restaurant in September 2007 she found a number of shortcomings.

"There was a failure to put in place adequate pest controls and it was that failure that led to her finding a significant number of rat droppings both in the public area and in the kitchen," he said.

A gap around a ventilation pipe leading outside the building, which rodents could have crawled through, plus containers of food left open, were also highlighted.

In his opening statement to the jury, Mr Challinor said: "Ali has never disputed the fact that the condition of this restaurant was unlawful. What he says is 'I was not responsible for that, I was not the manger.'

"You will hear - we suggest - compelling evidence that this man held a managerial position in that company."

Yesterday's hearing heard Soft Bite was made to shut immediately after the inspection but was able to reopen later.

But it closed again after Bearwood Spices, the owning company was dissolved in June.

In her evidence, Mrs Phillips described the sensation she got when she entered the restaurant on September 19 last year.

"There was a very strong smell I likened to the smell of rodents," she said.

The trial continues.