MARK McLAUGHLIN
Edinburgh Evening News
24 May 2010
THE discovery of an "uncontrolled mouse infestation" has closed a branch of sandwich chain Subway and could give rise to criminal charges.
Environmental health officers allegedly discovered droppings and urine on food preparation surfaces and throughout the branch on Forrest Road.
It is the third Forrest Road take-away to face action for mouse droppings in the last five months.
Franchisee Narinder Atwal has been served with a hygiene emergency prohibition order, the highest level of enforcement at the council's environmental health department, indicating that the premises posed an imminent risk to public health.
The order was imposed following a tip off from a member of the public, and officers confirmed the complaint and closed the store down.
Environmental health are currently preparing a case to present to the procurator fiscal, and if the fiscal decides that the hygiene breaches are serious enough, charges could be brought against the franchisee.
A public notice is currently displayed on the door informing would-be customers of the reasons for its closure.
However, while Subway accepts that droppings have been found, a spokeswoman denied the allegations that they were found on food preparation surfaces, and said the company will be speaking to the department to have this allegation removed.
She added: "The Subway chain is extremely concerned about the findings of the environmental health officer following a visit to the store at Forrest Road, Edinburgh.
"The store is closed and the franchisee will work closely with the environmental health officer to ensure it does not reopen until the issue has been dealt with.
"The Subway chain takes food safety extremely seriously and strictly adheres to food hygiene and health and safety standards.
"The store has regular independent inspections by a reputable pest control company and all recent reports have shown no issues with the store."
Last Month, the Evening News revealed Hierapolis takeaway, just three doors down from the offending Subway, and Uncle T's across the road were also slammed by hygiene inspectors after mouse droppings were found on the premises.
Hierapolis was voluntarily closed down by management in February and is now under new management, while Uncle T's was cleared in a follow-up inspection after mouse droppings were found in January.
The two takeaways were among 130 city restaurants that failed routine council hygiene inspections in the last year. Subway Forrest Road was not one of them.
Despite being sandwiched between Subway and Hierapolis, the manager of Forrest Road hairdresser Venus said the mice have never intruded into her store.
Manager Jill Aitchison said: "We had a problem with Subway leaving its bins piled up against the dividing wall, so that the smell was wafting through.
"The council's hygiene inspectors went in to have a word with them about the bins, and when they inspected the place they told me that it was one of the cleanest takeaways they had ever seen. That was about five years ago, though, so standards must have slipped in the last few years."
A council spokeswoman confirmed that a hygiene emergency prohibition order has been served on Subway Forrest Road, but said she was prohibited from commenting further.
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