Restaurant shut due to 'shocking' mice infestation

A mice-infested restaurant has been closed immediately following a routine inspection.

Portsmouth City Council's environmental health team inspected Galbi Korean Restaurant on Albert Road in Southsea on 28 July.

Evidence of mice was found throughout the restaurant, with mouse droppings on oven shelves, next to open boxes of food, and underneath drinking glasses in the bar.

Lee Hunt, cabinet member for community safety, leisure and sport, described the findings as "shocking".

The council said the structure of the restaurant had been "poor" with a "large gap under the rear kitchen door" and a "missing pane of glass above the entrance door allowing rodents to enter the building".

A cockroach was found floating in a container of water in the bar, and officers also had identified "issues with cleanliness" and "dirty equipment", the authority said.

The restaurant was immediately closed under a hygiene emergency prohibition notice and must remain so until the health risk has been removed.

Hunt added: "The premises were filthy, there was clear evidence of an active mouse infestation, and mouse droppings were discovered next to open food and even inside an oven.

"The public should expect food businesses to operate to the highest hygiene standards.

"The conditions at this restaurant were completely unacceptable and posed a serious risk to public health, which is why we took immediate action to close the premises."