A Brighton restaurant has pleaded guilty to seven charges including failing to ensure adequate procedures are in place to control pests.
Cloudless Limited, which runs the Seagull Restaurant, in Madeira Drive, Brighton, was fined a total of £3,515 including costs.
On Thursday 13 March an environmental health officer, carrying out a routine food hygiene inspection of the Seagull Restaurant, found signs of an active mouse throughout the premises.
Mouse droppings were seen in 15 different places, including on the floor under the fryer floating in a pool of grease.
The owner closed the premises to clean up and carry out treatment and proofing works.
Brighton and Hove City Council said: “This case showed serious breaches of food hygiene standards. The fines handed out show that the courts will back the city council in action to protect residents and visitors.
“People should have confidence that cases such as these are rare. Standards of food hygiene in the city are going up, with more food businesses than ever achieving a top rating of 5 and nearly 93 per cent having a rating of 3 or more which is above the national average.”
