AN INDIAN restaurant which was infested with rats has been fined £3,000.

The kitchen and storeroom at Purple Mango (One) Ltd, in Victoria Road, were found to be strewn with rat droppings during an inspection by Swindon Council in March 2010.

The restaurant agreed to close voluntarily to clean the premises and employ a pest controller to deal with the infestation.

Environmental health officers made follow-up visits before it was allowed to re-open.

At Swindon Magistrates’ Court on Monday company director Anwar Aftab pleaded guilty on behalf of the business to four food hygiene offences .

Passing sentence, the chairman of the bench Jane Flew acknowledged the situation had improved but said she was disgusted it had reached that state.

“Clearly, this restaurant posed a considerable risk to members of the public who were going out to eat a decent meal produced in clean circumstances, which clearly was not the case,” she said.

“There appears to me to be a climate of poor management, and poor record keeping and poor training in your case.”

Phil Wirth, prosecuting, said that in the storeroom signs of rat activity included: l A gnawed plastic bag containing coconut flour and rat droppings l Droppings next to and behind a chest freezer and a fridge l Two packets of gnawed, uncooked poppadoms l Gnawed material among bags containing potatoes and onions l Droppings on a shelf above the chest freezer l Raw, uncovered chickens in the freezer l In the kitchen there were droppings behind a hot cupboard l Debris and gnawed flooring underneath the front cabinet and cooking range.

l A build-up of droppings and debris underneath the freezer, together with an upturned tray of bait l Droppings under the double stainless steel upright fridge.

l Walls behind equipment were greasy and not cleaned regularly and some of the equipment was damaged.

In an interview with council officials, Mr Aftab accepted responsibility for the situation. He said he originally had a professional pest control contract but cancelled it when he had not had any pests.

He said he and other staff had tried to block up rat holes and kill the rats whenever they saw them.

Lovell Chohan, defending, said the company took the situation very seriously and Mr Aftab had attended a food and hygiene course.

“The problem started effectively in early February 2010 when Mr Aftab was taken ill,” he said.

“When he returned, he found that the restaurant had been run down, the staff had simply not carried out their duties, and hadn’t carried out the cleaning.

“It’s fair to point out that the infestation stems from an alley where there’s a huge infestation of rats. So whatever Mr Aftab did to keep these rats out he was facing a losing battle.”

He said the infestation was now totally under control and the restaurant had spent about £3,000 sorting out the problem.

As well as the fine the company was ordered to pay £1,525 costs and a £15 victim surcharge.

Speaking after the hearing, Phil Thomas, Swindon Council’s head of community and commercial safety, said: “It is important that residents and visitors to Swindon are confident that takeaways and restaurants in the town produce food in a safe and hygienic way.

“We work with food businesses to help them comply with hygiene requirements, but in some cases matters are so serious we have to take formal action.”