Derby diner reopens after mice infestation caused closure by court Read more
A DERBY grill and diner which was closed after the discovery of what the city council described as a “serious mouse infestation” has reopened after an £8,500 refit.
And the staff at Sizzling Kitchen have thanked their customers for standing by them after news of the problem broke.
Derby City Council’s food and safety team officer was carrying out a routine inspection at the Burton Road premises on February 4 when evidence of the infestation was discovered.
But Sizzling Kitchen has now been given the all-clear to open again by the council after a major refit – which it had been planning anyway – costing £8,500.
Owner Mohammed Shamoon said he was pleased that the eatery’s customers had stuck by it.
He said: “It’s been a scary thing to go through.
“You can never be sure of the effect that something like this will have but we’d like to say thanks to all our customers.
“They’ve stood by us, which I would say was testament to our standards and our service.”
Mr Shamoon said the work had seen more fridges and freezers installed and the capacity of the diner increased from 30 to 57.
He said of work to deal with the mouse issue: “We got some contractors in and they’ve done a lot of work.
“It’s involved putting wire wool into holes which they could have got through.
“It’s almost soundproof, now, made air-tight.”
Julian de Mowbray, head of trading standards at the city council, said the Sizzling Kitchen case was Derby diner reopens after mice infestation caused closure by courtheard by Derby magistrates on February 12, when the court ratified the council’s actions to close the premises and granted a Hygiene Emergency Prohibition Order (HEPO).
He said: “The owner submitted a written request to the food and safety team for a visit to lift the HEPO on Friday, February 14.
“On Saturday, February 15, officers visited the premises, noted that conditions had substantially improved and it was deemed that there was no longer a health risk at the premises. On that basis, the HEPO issued by the court was therefore lifted.”
He said the food and safety team would be monitoring the premises closely over the next six months and “working with the business with the aim of ensuring continuing compliance with food law and improving its food hygiene rating”.
Mr Shamoon, who has owned the premises for just over a year, previously said he had shut down the premises a “a good few hours” before the council issued an emergency prohibition notice.
He said there had never been a problem with Sizzling Kitchen’s food preparation processes.
Following the February 4 inspection, the council had said: “At the time of this visit, the officer found that the state and condition of the premises posed an imminent risk of injury to health due to a widespread serious infestation of mice throughout the premises, resulting in a real risk of food contamination.”
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