£45k bill for mice-infested West Midlands supermarket

Birmingham supermarket bosses have been slapped with a £45,000 bill after mice and cockroach infestations were discovered in the business.

A hearing at Birmingham Magistrates Court on Thursday (September 11) heard how environmental health officers found mouse droppings throughout Tu Quynh Supermarket Bamboo in Wrottesley Street.

The inspection on July 24 last year came after issues around food management, labelling, traceability and staff training had come to light a month earlier.

Director Quan Quoc Le pleaded guilty to four charges against himself for breaches of the Food Safety and Hygiene Regulations. He also admitted the same four charges and an additional one related to staff training on behalf of the company.

He said he accepted responsibility for the failings and apologised to the court and the city council, adding he has made a number of changes to improve practices at the supermarket.

Hannan Aurangzeb, prosecuting on behalf of Birmingham City Council, said the inspection in July last year uncovered mouse droppings on shelving, food packaging and on fruit and vegetables.

There was also evidence of gnawed food packs, nesting material and a dead mouse behind shelving.

Stocky board traps were also present throughout the premises while officers also observed cockroaches in the store.

This resulted in the supermarket being closed for four days until July 28 last year before officers were satisfied the problems had been resolved.

Mr Aurangzeb added officers had inspected the premises in June 2025 and found problems related to ready to eat food not being stored at the correct temperature, some food with no labelling or labels in a foreign language.

He said there was no allergens listed on some products while a lack of ‘traceability’ meant original suppliers could not be identified.

It also emerged that only the defendant and one other member of staff out of a team of five had received the required food safety and hygiene training.

The prosecution also said initial revisits in the weeks that followed showed some of the issues were still not resolved.

Quan Quoc Le, aged 25 and who took over the business three years ago, was not legally represented in court and spoke through a Vietnamese translator.

He handed up a dossier which outlined a number of significant changes he has implemented since the inspections last year.

They include enhanced cleaning regimes, no longer using suppliers who do not properly label food and ceasing to sell pork products.

All staff are being trained and he said he continues working to improve the store further.

He said: “I want to say sorry to the court and the council for not doing enough. I hope the court understands I have taken responsibility for this.

“I hope the court will be kind to me and my company.”

Magistrates fined the company £30,000 and ordered it pay a surcharge of £12,000 and costs of £3,168.18. Quan Quoc Le was also fined £1,228 and ordered to pay a surcharge of £491.