Court hears Newcastle restaurant served food while plagued with rat infestation

A restaurant in Newcastle continued to serve food despite being plagued with a major infestation of rats, a court has heard. 

When Environmental Health Officers inspected TeAmo Chinese and BBQ House, on Percy Street, they found piles of soil on the kitchen floor – evidence that rodents had burrowed through the restaurant’s structure.

Rat droppings were found throughout the restaurant, on work surfaces, under the oven and the sink used for washing pans.

A hole in the wall where the rats had been coming in was covered with the lid of a deep fatfryer.

The owner agreed for the business to close immediately, at the request of Environmental Health Officers, until the pest activity was brought under control and a deep clean of the premises undertaken. A number of re-visits to the premises were made by the Environmental Health Team to make sure that work required to improve hygiene standards was being carried out.

A rat carcass was found on the kitchen floor at a subsequent inspection following extensive pest control treatment as well as other breaches of food safety legislation.

Food business operator Min Hou, of Spring Garden Lane, Newcastle, admitted five breaches of food hygiene regulations when she appeared before Newcastle Magistrates. She was fined £533, ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £213 and £1,200 costs making a total of £1,946.

The company Tea and More Limited, of which Hou was a director, also admitted the same five offences. It was fined £8,000, ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £2,000 and £1,200 in costs making a total of £11,200.

The court on Friday 5 July heard the restaurant previously had a five-star hygiene rating when the council received a complaint. 

Environmental Health Officers who inspected the premises in April 2023 immediately discovered it had a rat infestation. The kitchen was dirty and greasy and there was soil on the floor caused by rats burrowing into the kitchen.

There were smudge marks along the skirting boards where the rats had been running and there was evidence staff had continued to prepare food in the dirty kitchen.

Behind a piece of cardboard and the lid of a deep fat fryer was a large rat hole stuffed with six wax blocks of poison. The infestation was described as prolonged and well established. 

When approached by officers, Hou voluntarily closed the restaurant immediately and was told to eradicate the infestation and then deep clean the entire premises before officers would consider allowing the premises to reopen. 

She called in a pest control expert who initially believed the rats were coming from the sewers below the property. When officers returned weeks later, they discovered cleaning standards remained poor. Rat droppings were found on a shelf and in a box storing chopping boards.

In July 2023 the restaurant was given a one-star hygiene rating and Hou was interviewed under caution with a view to taking formal action.

The business has now been dissolved.

Newcastle City Council's Cabinet member for a resilient city, Cllr Irim Ali, said: “This is an horrific breach of food hygiene regulations. No one could fail to be disgusted at the condition of that restaurant. I am just relieved it has now closed and no one has been poisoned.

“I would like to pay tribute to our Food Safety Team for the important job that they do keeping the public safe. I hope the penalties handed out in this case act as a reminder to all food businesses to ensure their premises are pristine and that they act as soon as they discover a problem.

“When people eat out, they rightly expect the highest food hygiene standards.

“As a council we will not hesitate to take enforcement action whenregulations are breached.”

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