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Inspectors find dying rat in Cornwall café
13/08/2012
Council officers in Cornwall were met with the horrific sight of a dying rat, during a spot inspection of a roadside café.
The public health officers were carrying out a routine inspection of the Penlan Eating House on the A30 near Bodmin last September when they made the grim discovery. The rat was discovered underneath a kitchen worktop and was the most obvious sign of the major rodent problem that was plaguing the premises.
The discovery was highlighted last week when the café’s then-owner, Sherleen Lesley Noyce, appeared before Truro Magistrates Court and was convicted of failing to put in place adequate procedures to control pests, failing to ensure that food was protected against contamination and failing to keep the premises clean.
The officer who found the rat, Peter Andrews, said he couldn’t quite believe what he was seeing.
“To be honest I did a double-take – it was bleeding from the nose and mouth, staggering, not running or hiding,” he said.“It was on its way to die.”
Mrs Noyce was fined £700 with £2,000 court costs and a £15 surcharge by the court. She has since left Penlan Eating House to set up another catering business in Bodmin.
