By Jenni DixonA PUB restaurant has been shut down because of contaminated food and an infestation of mice.The restaurant, kitchen and storage areas of the Crown pub in Beccles Road, Carlton Colville, have been closed by an emergency prohibition order issued by Lowestoft magistrates on Monday.
By Jenni Dixon
A PUB restaurant has been shut down because of contaminated food and an infestation of mice.
The restaurant, kitchen and storage areas of the Crown pub in Beccles Road, Carlton Colville, have been closed by an emergency prohibition order issued by Lowestoft magistrates on Monday.
The order comes after a routine inspection by an environmental health officer from Waveney District Council, which was also granted a condemnation order for contaminated food seized from the premises.
Tony Curd, Waveney District Council's environmental health service manager, said: “The inspection was unannounced and identified an environmental risk to health by virtue of mice being all over the place.”
He added a prohibition notice had been served to the owner under the 1990 Food Safety Act and had been followed up within three days with an appearance in the magistrates' court, which issued the emergency prohibition order.
“The premises have to remain closed until the safety health risk has been removed and our environmental health team are satisfied that the infestation has been controlled,” said Mr Curd.
“The owners of the premises and the people running the business are co-operating fully with us and have pest control and cleaning people in at the moment.”
He added the pub had no recent history of environmental failings having passed an inspection 18 months ago.
Vernon Bolton, 63, who has owned the premises for eight years and been in the pub trade for 35 years, said he hoped to reopen the pub on Friday.
“Everything is under control. We've had no further evidence of mice since Thursday when the pest control people came in,” he added.
“We now have to let the premises 'rest' for a period of three days to see if the mice do come back.”
Mr Bolton said because the 100-year-old pub was next to fields, trying to keep mice out was “virtually impossible”.
He added: “It's just one of those things unfortunately. It happens and there's nothing we can do about it apart from try to keep them out.”
jenni.dixon@eadt.co.uk
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